


Little Pieces

by coeurastronaute



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kara as a single mom, Katie the original character, both as pining dorks, lena as afraid of children, mon-el isn't the absolute worst because he doesn't live on earth, superkid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-08 01:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12244350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coeurastronaute/pseuds/coeurastronaute
Summary: Lena runs into a pretty girl at a party. She does it again and again and she talks about bridges. Kara isn't completely honest, but she is completely complicated.





	1. Bridges

“Five minutes, Jess,” Lena reminded her assistant as the car stopped at a red light. “Just five minutes, and then I’m going to finish unpacking.”

To her credit, she didn’t even look up from her tablet as her boss made the same insistence she’d made twelve times since they’d left the new offices. Jess was familiar with Lena’s rants and opinions and utter dislike of anything social, despite her best efforts to help break the youngest Luthor from her shell.

“I mean it. In and out. I don’t want to talk to these people and have to smile and pretend to care about… what is it this time?” she asked, disinterested in much at all while she gazed out the window of the town car. “The unveiling of a bridge? Kids without musical instruments? Someone’s birthday?”

“Yes. I RSVP’d you for the unveiling of a bridge.”

For a moment, Lena was struck by the words before she looked at her assistant who still didn’t look up from her expert scheduling and multitasking. Despite herself, the CEO smiled to herself before toying with the hem of her dress, smoothing it across her thigh.

“Did you RSVP for your next paycheck?”

“Do you know your new address?” Jess retorted, unphased by the threat. It was never even an option on the table. As unattached as she was, or at least pretended to be, the Luthor had a best friend, and couldn’t live without her.

“You’re extortion is always effective.”

“It’s the 30 Under 30 magazine launch,” she softened slightly.

Lena nodded and pursed her lips, already annoyed at the idea of it. She watched the people pass as they moved through the congested city streets. Her assistant knew that her mind was far away, working on something that would keep her up too late. They were friends. Jess learned these things.

Five years, she’d worked with the Luthor. Right out of college, she took the job and it was supposed to be in a much smaller capacity, helping out in the lab. But then half of Metropolis blew up and the trial came, and it Jess found herself protecting her boss who found herself thrust into the limelight.

“What number did I come in at again?” Lena asked, lulling her head to the side.

“One.”

“Right, right. Wait, I did?”

“You did a photoshoot three weeks ago,” Jess chuckled slightly and rolled her eyes.

“I thought that was for the company whatever thing.”

“That was last week.”

“Doesn’t it sound like my days are spent doing useless things?”

“Imagine mine.”

“New start, Jess,” Lena nodded, mostly to herself, as she dug through her purse and checked her lipstick. “New start. New company, sort of. New life. New home. New office. New city. New us.”

The car finally stopped as Lena finished fixing her make up. She wasn’t particularly interested in the meaning, but her reminder was for herself. She wanted to start over after everything in Metropolis, after her family, after all of it. She meant it. The past few years did a number on her, and now she was starting fresh, becoming who she wanted to be. It was that simple. Sometimes that meant listening to Jess and shutting up, despite the fact that she wanted to go home and tinker with that new circuit board she got from a friend in Japan.

Lena took a minute, despite the stopping, despite the readiness. Her aversion to public events stemmed from a lifetime of terrible parties and an overbearing mother. Her aversion to meeting anyone came from her mistrust of everyone after her father and brother’s betrayals.

“Five minutes,” Jess offered, hoping to relieve some of the tension her boss sought to bury deep, deep down beneath a cool and collected demeanor. She was always so cool, always so aloof. But if anyone really looked, if anyone knew her, they’d know the truth. Jess knew. Jess spent nights drunk on vodka on the floor with Lena.

“Take the night off. I’ll play well with others.”

“Are you… sure?” she furrowed.

“New life, right?”

The question was earnest despite its rhetorical nature.

“Better life,” Jess offered.

“Take the night,” Lena nodded, finally allowing the driver to open the door. “I’ll survive. See you in the morning.”

“I can stay for a little.”

“Take her home, will you Phil?” the CEO asked the driver who held her door. “Don’t let her fight you on it. I’ll take a cab.”

“What’s your address?” Jess taunted.

“Text me it and then go home.”

“Have fun, Lena.”

With just a small, honest smile, she took a deep breath and became a Luthor before giving her assistant a wink and closing the door behind her. Jess watched her move through the crowd, fake smile firmly in place. If anyone could completely start over, it was Lena Luthor, Jess wagered. Chasing happiness but not sure how to have it, Lena disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

CatCo events were exhausting, to say the least. The rooftop filled with people, the elevators were crowded, and work was impossible to be accomplished under such conditions as music playing and those delicious crab puffs that kept disappearing too quickly. While the city watched on all forms of media, the chose invitees drank and celebrated and partied with the Queen of it all.

Despite the pile of work left on her desk, Kara ventured out into the party, unsure of her desire to cover it, though a few notes couldn’t hurt to impress her new boss. Something about the mingling of people though, was just overwhelming and disinteresting. With James as acting CEO and Winn off working on gadgets with her sister, there was little buffer between her and the countless strangers that now occupied her space. She didn’t party anymore; it was foreign and felt like another life.

But the food.

She gave herself five minutes to do a round and then disappear. If she was lucky, she could play it off and sneak out early without Snapper noticing, and that was reward enough.

Carefully, with years of practice as Cat’s assistant, Kara snagged snacks and made her way to the balcony, finding a corner that said something along the lines of I’m-just-here-to-pass-some-time-please-leave-me-and-my-crab-puffs-alone. It was systematic and well rehearsed.

The city bloomed in the almost fall. Autumn wanted to come, but the sun lingered too long, glimmered a bit too much, left that heat that filtered from the streets and sidewalks in a lingering haze, reminding the world that there was still heat to be had after sundown. The skyline was beautiful from the balcony. Little lights formed a galaxy that had constantly changing constellations. Nothing was better, except maybe a better seat if one were to fly.

With a heavy sigh, Kara looked up at the starless evening as the moon started to glow. That was done and over with, for years now, and she didn’t miss parts of being Supergirl. She did, however, miss that freedom of a good fly. Perhaps she’d sneak one soon, she decided, popping another snack into her mouth, content with just the possibility.

“You’ve stolen my idea,” a voice interrupted her gentle, thoughtless thoughts. “The balcony is always my go to, when avoiding small talk.”

“I don’t know if I’m avoiding it, per say,” she straightened slightly, adjusting her glasses. “This view never gets old to me. I get kind of distracted.”

“It is magnificent,” the stranger assented, leaning her elbows on the ledge and toying with the glass.

Kara swallowed her food and tried to clear her throat, suddenly very self-conscious of her smorgasbord. Instead, she watched the strong jaw and porcelain skin take in the city with new eyes, actually appreciating what she’d said about the view, as if she’d never considered such a thing before. Her lipstick was dark, sticking on out her pale skin in the most distracting and powerful kind of way, while her earrings and necklace were delicate and slender. Long neck disappeared into gentle shoulders beneath a perfectly fitted black dress. No one had any right to look that good, Kara decided, right there and then.

“I won’t distract you with small talk, but could we just…” the stranger met Kara’s eyes and she was really in need of a stiff drink. If her profile was down right criminal, her eyes were absolutely deadly. “If we stand here, nod occasionally, people will think we’re talking and not interrupt.”

“Okay,” Kara breathed, the word coming out in the way her lungs shrivelled.

Nervously, Kara fixated on the view. That was safe. Suddenly, she had thoughts she hadn’t thought to think in a very long time. Suddenly, she felt her palms sweat slightly and her fingers fidget against themselves.

“If you didn’t want to come, what brings you here?” Kara finally ventured. “I’m sorry. Am I allowed to talk or is that a hard and fast rule? I can be quiet and nod.”

“Lena,” she smiled and held out her hand. “If we’re going to be partners through this, we should at least know each other, I suspect.”

“Kara,” she returned, shaking her hand softly. “Lena as in…”

“Yes. The one and only. You can disappear in fear or hate if you’d like now that you know.” A gulp of the rest of her liquid courage disappeared from the glass after the admission.

“I’m okay here,” Kara tried, earning a little relaxing from the stranger who she felt like she knew everything about by word of mouth. “What brings a girl like you to a place like this?”

There was a distinct difference between the Lena in pictures and the one standing in front of her. Kara couldn’t pinpoint it entirely, but she was certain that she couldn’t find the cold, aggressive, angry person that candids often displayed. Lena, in the flesh, had naturally curious eyes, the kind that were expressive and not entirely prone to sadness like the images only showed. Her lips were quick to turn up on one side to a dangerous kind of smirk. Kara saw the girl in the pictures, but the breathing one was so human, it was intoxicating.

“My assistant tricked me and told me it was a bridge unveiling,” she smiled at her own joke to herself though Kara didn’t follow. “I have a thing for bridges.”

“How does one have a thing for bridges?”

“Have you ever seen one?” Lena scoffed. “They’re engineering marvels. And they’re absolutely stunning.”

“I guess I never thought to look at them as something beautiful.”

“Maybe that’s why I like them, too. They’re useful and steady, constant kinds of things, that no one thinks twice about, but that are absolute miracles of science and math and practicality dating back thousands of years.”

“Okay,” Kara nodded with a smile. “Maybe you do have a thing for bridges.”

“You don’t even know the half of it.”

As easily as that, they couldn’t stop talking. They weren’t supposed to, but they did. Kara supposed it was alright due to the fact that it wasn’t necessarily small talk. They didn’t discuss the weather or careers or mundane things like the party or the event or things of no consequence.

Instead, they talked about bridges. Lena sprouted facts about the longest and the tallest and the most unique ones in the world, while accepting a little ribbing about being a bridge nerd from the complete stranger. And when the tables turned, Kara rambled about a book she was reading, and the new exhibit at the art museum.

Suddenly they were sharing stolen snacks and Lena was ordering them doubles, discretely slipping the waiter a bill to make it quick and quiet. Right there on the balcony, as the sky darkened and the light from the inside blurred the outside night, the two strangers had a genuine conversation, and Kara found herself taken with the woman who was too into tinkering with old gadgets and waxing poetic about minor miracles of modern science.

It got late, somehow. It just happened. Lena leaned closer and smiled so genuinely it was almost distracting. In truth, it was distracting to Kara, though she blushed and tried not to notice. There was something soulful and different about a girl like Lena. When both acknowledged it was late, neither did anything to stop, though the acknowledgement changed their conversation.

With the late hour and the second round, Kara grew braver, asking personal questions and surprising herself when she got honest answers. She liked it all. Not in years could she remember having a conversation with someone and being so interested.

“I think I just say things so Jess doesn’t worry about me as much,” Lena confessed, twirling her drink around again.

“All it takes is deciding,” Kara promised. “If you really want to start over, then you deserve it.”

“How can you know I deserve it?”

“Because if this is the person you want to be, someone who is happy and kind and good, then I think those are noble aims. Someone who wants that deserves to get it.”

“I’m finding it’s a lot more work than anticipated to carve out a little happiness,” she sighed with a sad smile.

“I don’t know,” the reporter shrugged and looked wistfully at the lake in the distance. “Good things have a way of just appearing, and life falls into place when you least expect it.”

“I almost believe you,” Lena chuckled. “Can I get you another?”

“Oh, I, um,” Kara swallowed and pulled the vibrating phone from her pocket.

“I’m sorry. I occupied all of your time. You have an angry boyfriend waiting, I’m sure.”

“No, no, I’m not. I haven’t. There’s. I’m not seeing– I haven’t seen anyone,” she shook her head, quite flustered, both at the subtle ask about her personal life and the way it made her stomach flip while at the same time the name that flashed on her screen made her heart yearn.

“That might be the best thing I’ve heard all night.”

“Better than the story about my first day as Cat’s assistant?”

“That was good. Go ahead. Take your call.”

“It’s just my sister,” Kara offered quickly, unsure of why. She picked up with a little smile. “Hey, Alex. I’m leaving now. I– mmhmm– yes– of course– one more hour and that’s it– soon. Love you too.”

Kara watched Lena straighten slightly with the news of her partner in crime’s inevitable departure. For the first time in years, she wanted to be anyone else, she wanted to be someone who could stay.

“I, um. I have to go.”

“Yeah, no. I think we stayed later than expected. My assistant will be very impressed.”

“Maybe don’t tell her you spent the night just talking to one person.”

“Trust me, she’ll still be amazed,” Lena promised.

Kara had to go. She was almost two hours later than she told her sister, and yet she couldn’t do anything to make herself want to leave the balcony. Lena leaned closer. They were close. They were almost touching, and Lena had those eyes.

“Would it be inappropriate if I asked for your number? I, uh, I really liked talking to you. I haven’t felt this–”

“No, no, not inappropriate,” Kara hurried. “I just. Um. I don’t… date. I can’t.”

“Oh okay, yeah,” she nodded quickly. “The Luthor thing?”

“No, no. Don’t. No. I just. My life is complicated.”

“Yeah, I get complicated.”

“It’s not you–”

“No, it’s okay. I’m. I’m just going to leave the whole striking out with a pretty girl at a party thing out when I talk to Jess, if that’s okay.”

“It is,” Kara smiled. “I do have to go.”

“Of course.”

With the smallest move, and no real reason why, Kara paused as she pushed herself up from the balcony. She placed her hand on Lena’s elbow and kissed her cheek. It was a good move. It was one she shouldn’t have made, but there was something about Lena that made Kara consider for longer than anyone else, giving her number out. And that was something.

“I believe you can find some happiness,” Kara whispered. “Thank you for teaching me about bridges.”

“Anytime.”

Kara made her way back inside, sneaking a look at the lonely form still out on the balcony. Pale shoulders and lots of neck were on display, hunkered over. She paused and watched Lena grab another drink from the tray that passed.

* * *

For weeks, she saw her in the crowds and the city and on street corners as she sat in the car on the way home. When the chill finally came, the world reset, and life got busy. The city turned orange and burned like an ember through tree-lined streets and the kaleidoscope that was the park.

At first, Lena didn’t think about it, or at least tried not to think about it. But she saw blonde everywhere, and nowhere at all. And when she caught herself looking, she just rolled her eyes at herself and tried to laugh at her clear lack of game and social inability to read the signs properly.

“The last time you told me there was going to be a bridge,” Lena rolled her head to the side as the car inched along the crowded and rainy September street.

“If I’d known that bridges were the key to get you to go out I’d have used that more often.”

“I go out,” she furrowed. “I try to go out. But those few hours I get that aren’t at work are so much better spent detoxing alone so I can tolerate more people.”

“You had a good time last time you went,” Jess reminded her.

Lena disliked being reminded that she’d had such a good time because that meant she was reminded of Kara.

“Five minutes.”

“This one has an open bar and people who know science things.”

“Just one time I want to go see a bridge being opened. Is that a thing? How do we get invited to things like that? Do I have to build my own?”

“Yes.”

“Well find me a canyon tomorrow and we’ll get started. Did I ever tell you how I designed–”

“A bridge for your thesis that could span the ocean, yeah, you did.”

“Seems I’ve run out of stories. I must need a new assistant.”

“Or new friends,” Jess offered.

“Five minutes,” Lena decided, ignoring the jab. “Five minutes and then I’m going home and I’m not doing anything all weekend, and you can’t make me.”

“I don’t care what you do. I’m going away this weekend, remember?”

“Right, yes. Perfect. You don’t care at all?”

“I have full faith that you can survive two days on your own.”

“Do you think Henry is going to propose this weekend?” Lena grinned. “You should say yes. I’ve done extensive research on him. I like him.”

“I’ve asked you to stop hacking people,” Jess sighed, not looking up from the tablet as she arranged for Ms. Luthor to be fed and watered in her two day absence. “It’s illegal.”

The car finally stopped at the conservatory. The cameras were flashing from beneath the tarp near the entrance. Lena took a deep breath and prepared as the driver walked around with her umbrella.

“I hack because I care,” she insisted. “Have a good time. Leave your tablet at home, please. I mean it, Jess. Have a good time. But also let me know if he proposes immediately.”

“You’ll be okay?”

“You’re my assistant, not my babysitter.” They exchanged a look, both acknowledging that at times they were one in the same, and Lena was desperately appreciative of that fact. “And right now,” she murmured, checking her watch. “You are off the clock, and you are my dearest friend, and I assure you I have nothing planned except wine and research reports. I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“I think he might propose,” Jess finally cracked a smile.

“You, my friend, deserve all of the happiness.”

“So do you, you know?”

“People keep telling me that,” Lena nodded with a wry smirk. “Get out of town. I’ll see you on Monday. Maybe Tuesday.”

Before Jess could argue or give her anymore instructions, Lena opened her door and disappeared into the street. People could be heard calling her name while Jess just watched her walk in that way that signified she wasn’t the woman who wore sweatpants and took apart her laptop instead of buying a new one, which she could afford, just to fix it.

“Can you confirm with Jeff that the plane is stocked for their weekend?” Lena asked the driver. “I’ll take a cab home.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded, finally depositing her under the tents for the entrance.

The cameras flashed and Lena put on that face. People wanted to have sex with her. They didn’t like to admit it, being the sister and daughter of murderers, but they did. It was a weird feeling to have, but she looked and smirked at the cameras she she was moved along the carpet.

Fast as she wanted to go, it seemed to take hours. Fifteen minutes was a more accurate representation, but Lena had a flare for the dramatic. Like a man lost in the desert, she approached the bar after nodding a few hellos to familiar acquaintances.

Barring a balcony and her exit guarded by cameras, Lena decided the bar was the safest place to exist. Jess was right, of course. These were her people. The science nerds discussing the new discoveries and potential of the new telescope being unveiled. But people didn’t want to talk about her research of her love of space or even bridges. They wanted her money and so conversations veered toward pitches, which was a bore, at best.

The fifth vodka soda (light on the soda) of the night had her humoring people before decimating their ideas with staunch practicality. She was hunting for sport until the show to pass the time.

“The possibilities are endless,” someone told her.

“Possibilities have a price tag, I’m sure,” she smiled politely enough.

“Who could put a price tag on such things?”

Had she not been trained on the art of mingling since she was a child and bred with a kind of upperclass disinterest, Lena might have choked on her drink when she heard the voice. She surely did, despite her raising, when she met sky blue eyes.

“Didn’t you donate most of this telescope because of its potential?” Kara continued.

“I never said I wouldn’t pay for possibilities. Just an observation that there is one,” she smiled.

“Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us,” the reporter nodded. “I was wondering if I could get a quote for the paper, Ms. Luthor?”

“Of course.”

Lena made it a few steps back toward the bar and finished her drink before signaling for another. Her quiet corner felt a little more homey with the addition of the savior of a reporter.

“I don’t really need a quote,” Kara chuckle. “Thought you might need a save.”

“You’re going to make me dependent. What am I going to do at my next boring party when you’re not there to swoop in?”

“I’m sure you can hold your own.”

Gone was the work attire, the staunch button up and the crisp pants and high pony tail which, surprisingly, did this weird librarian thing for Lena. But replacing the Kara she met, was one in a beautiful dress, one with wide shoulders and arms. Like, buff arms, like arms someone who wore pastels shouldn’t have.

Gratefully, Lena accepted the drink that arrived as a chance to avert her eyes because she was going to stare and the drinks were catching up to her in a bad kind of way with the addition of the new stranger that wasn’t a stranger.

“Ohhhh no,” Lena shook her head, eyes growing wide. “I shouldn’t be near you.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’ve had more drinks than last time. And I’m quite sure I’ll hit on you because you’re beautiful and funny and your nerd is like dork bait to me.”

“Oh, for all of those reasons?” Kara smiled at the honesty. “I could leave you to the sharks, if you’d like.”

For a moment, Lena considered it. She looked around the conservatory and she sighed before shaking her head.

“You stay at your own risk.”

“I can handle myself,” Kara promised.

If Lena was slightly more sober, she’d convince herself that Kara’s lips weren’t purposefully doing this thing to the straw that made her own mouth dry. But she wasn’t, and so she stared.

“So, this weather, right?” she tried.

“I thought we had a no small talk rule?”

With a thoughtful nod, Lena sipped her drink and fiddled with her hair, tossing it over a shoulder. She met Kara’s eyes for longer than innocent. Twice she’d met this girl and each time she was completely taken with her, which was… new.

“I read some of your older pieces,” Lena finally confessed. “You wrote about Supergirl often. Did you know her?”

“Kind of. She gave me exclusives.” Kara toyed anxiously with a napkin, afraid to look at the CEO.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Always.”

“Did she leave because of what happened to… because of Metropolis?”

For too long, Lena bore the guilt of her family. She had a little black book that was full of debts to be repaid before she could think of happiness. If she had to add another name, she would. That was her duty and her lot in life.

“No,” Kara finally offered, very serious and uncharacteristic of what Lena knew of her. “She had personal reasons. But it wasn’t because of what happened to Superman.”

“It wasn’t because of my family?”

“No,” she promised again. “Lena, I swear. She was explicit about why she had to step away. It was no one else’s choice but her own. You don’t have to give yourself any blame for what they did, either, you know that right?”

“That’s nice to think.”

“At least don’t worry about Supergirl. I saw her last week, and she is very happy.”

“Well, that’s one less thing that will keep me up at night,” she smiled, though it was not genuine or meaningful.

“My turn to ask you a question,” Kara decided, desperate to cheer up the lush at the bar.

“I’m all yours.”

Just like that, they were close again. There were moments when Kara laughed, and Lena was confused as to how she managed to earn such a noise, and worse yet, how to get it again. Time didn’t exist. Things happened, people mingled, and they were locked away in their corner. She was certain it wasn’t just the vodka that made her notice the things Kara was doing. She was certain she was being flirted with, though she could not be certain. Jess would have known. Halfway to reaching for her phone, she remembered she couldn’t ask her assistant anything for two days, and just a few hours after being dropped off, Lena realized she legitimately needed a babysitter at all times to function in the human world.

“Why don’t you date?” Lena asked, using her turn to try to satiate her growing desire.

“Me? Oh,” Kara fumbled, surprised by the sudden turn in conversation. “My life is just a bit complicated. I don’t think I have the room for more. And if I was going to date. Say, someone as absolutely astounding as you, if I were ever that lucky, I’d… I wouldn’t want to mess up a chance like that. I don’t know if I could balance it all. My life is… “

“Complicated,” Lena supplied.

The problem was, as she said the word, Kara’s thumb was toying with the soft skin of her wrist, tracing circles there. Both watched it happen. As someone who felt infinitely torn into a million pieces by obligations, Lena recognized the pained look in Kara’s eyes behind that cheerful smile.

“This is the first time I ever considered it, if that means anything,” Kara offered. “In years. You are more than enough to break someone’s willpower, Lena Luthor. I just can’t do casual, and I don’t know if I can handle serious. Puts me at a bit of an impasse.”

“I’ve been called a vixen, you know. Sexy, even.” She watched Kara gulp and blush.

“You are certainly all of that, Ms. Luthor.”

“Anyone who listens to my love of bridges can call me Lena, you know this.”

“I was trying to distance myself from thinking about your lips.”

“Oh,” she nodded, surprised by the confession. “Are you sure I can’t ask you out?”

Kara finally stopped touching Lena, taking a step back. It was all the effort she had in her body to do it, but she did, and Lena felt it.

“Complicated. A girl like you deserves not that.”

“I dunno. I’m a complex individual.”

“Now that, I believe,” Kara chuckled. “I really should be going. I hate having to leave, but I can’t be late this time.”

“Completely understandable. I hope I get to return the favor and save you one day.”

“I hope so too.”

With the same kind of move, Lena turned very still as Kara let her hand linger on her elbow. This time it was less cheek against cheek in a polite goodbye. This time it was lips on her skin, and Lena couldn’t breathe.

“Thank you for thinking I’m worthy of being asked out.”

“Thank you for existing,” Lena sighed.

Once more, she watched Kara disappear into the crowd before turning to the bar and shaking her head. It was absolutely astounding that a girl could do that to her. Right then and there, Lena decided that if she ever saw Kara Danvers again, she would run in the opposite direction.

* * *

“You’re seriously a lifesaver,” Kara murmured as she hugged her sister, quickly taking the garment bag she’d lugged across town. “Snapper is going to kill me with all of this research and running around.”

“Fancy events and quotes from the elitist of the elite,” Alexa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “What a sour life you lead.”

“I know. It’s exhausting.”

Not having enough time to do anything else, Kara hurriedly closed her office door and began to change to make it a few blocks away to hopefully get few quotes from the policeman’s ball that Snapper assigned her to at the last minute due to ‘needing more seasoned professionals’ covering the recent string of bank robberies.

He relegated her to a puff piece, and she was steaming. She kicked off her pants and she still was angry.

“Maybe you’ll run into whoever keeps making you hang around these things,” Alex ventured, leaning against the spare chair in the corner. She earned a grunt as her sister fell a little at the reminder.

“I don’t hang around. I interview.”

“Okay. Sure.”

“I mean it. She’s just a friend who is not boring and fun to hang out with when I have to go to these things. She might not even be there.”

Coming back up and adjusting herself in the dress, Kara tried to convince herself that it was stupid to wait weeks to potentially see Lena again. That was something she shouldn’t be allowed to think about, despite herself.

“So who is she?”

“Just a friend.”

“Kara…”

“Just… don’t, please.”

“You’re allowed to like someone, Kara,” her sister promised as she watched the retired hero flawlessly fix her hair in the mirror, somehow becoming a bombshell out of thin air. It was infuriating. “You have to know that, right?”

“I don’t… I don’t like anyone,” she shook her head and tried to slip on her heels.

“Right. That’s why you had me bring you that dress.”

“It’s not that simple, Alex.”

“It is. You know that it won’t matter. After Mon-el, you don’t have to shrivel up and be alone. If you like this person, then do something about it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

For a moment, Alex wanted to argue because she wanted her sister to be happy. And it wasn’t that she wasn’t happy, just that she could be happier. There were glimpses of the old Kara when she came home from the first CatCo party much later than promised. She had a wistful glint to her eyes and she smiled without being told to. It was a bit of the person she missed.

In the mirror, Kara fixed her hair and added a little lipstick. Alex could argue it further, but it wouldn’t change the stubborn woman that was her sister, and so she decided simply letting her have this outlet that would inevitably hurt her, because for now, it was good. Who cared if there was a crush out there that Kara wouldn’t act on. Perhaps she would because Alex told her to try.

“You look beautiful,” Alex offered as a form of peace. “She won’t be able to keep her eyes off of you.”

“I’m.. it’s not… this is my only unstained dress. Really?”

“Yes,” she chuckled as she pushed herself from the chair and kissed her sister’s forehead. “Now I should go. I left the monsters at home and promised to bring home pizza.”

“Thanks,” Kara smiled. “I’ll be back around nine.”

“Just stay out. Have fun. You deserve to be happy.”

The words struck Kara in that moment. She was accustomed to saying it, especially since her newfound friend. The real disconnection came from the fact that she never considered herself explicitly unhappy until that moment.

“About nine,” she repeated, grabbing her phone and purse, ready to follow her sister out.

“Sure sure.”

“I mean it. And save me some pizza.”

By the time Kara says goodbye to her sister and hails a cab, the little ninja thought burrowed deep into her cerebrum and festered in the gyri there. As they cab drove the few blocks to the event, Kara wondered about what her sister said, if she seemed unhappy enough to warrant the need to be told to be happy. She wondered if her eyes were like Lena’s Which was a dangerous thought because then she was thinking about the heiress’ eyes.

City hall was beaming and booming in the autumn when the trees were bare and naked, though not quite shivering yet. People in dresses and dress blues made their way inside. Unobtrusively, Kara slipped in and went to work, making notes, chatting with people in the friendly way she was known to exude, though there was now this self-consciousness to it.

By the time she escaped most of the night unscathed though utterly bored with the repetitious conversations, her phone told her she was right on schedule to be back when she promises Alex.

But then she caught sight of that dress. That dress. The dress. The one that was deep green and black. The one that hugged hips and dipped dangerously low on back and showed cleavage that would have stopped a saint in his steps. That dress. She saw it and she physically felt her jaw drop.

Lena caught her eye and nodded politely as she sipped her champagne, returning to a conversation with some grey-haired chatty fellow with plenty of medals on his chest. He shook her hand, no doubt thanking her for the donation to the Survivors’ Fund.

The exit was right behind her, but Kara looked down at her feet as they led her the opposite way, toward Lena’. Which was ridiculous. She met her twice. She spent about nine hours with her, total. And they talked about everything, but still. That wasn’t a reason to feel… to feel… to feel personally attacked for a dress like that.

“Good evening, Ms. Luthor, Commissioner Helms.”

“Kara,” she nodded politely. “I will leave you to get your quote from the handsome Commissioner. I’m afraid I’m due at the bar.”

As polite as ever and as apt at all manner of navigating such parties, Lena was gone in a quick trail, with Kara left gaping and scrambling for something to ask the man who was nothing more than a figurehead. It was impossible on all ends because she’d watched Lena’s bare back in the crowd and her throat was suddenly tight, and realistically, she didn’t care one flying heck about anyone’s opinion on anything.

“I thought I would rescue you, and you threw me to the wolves. Is this a new game, Ms. Luthor?” Kara asked, sliding up to the bar, undeterred and infinitely spurred on by a pretty girl with eyes that were heavy like the way certain songs are achy.

“I just thought you came for the quote.”

“Oh,” she swallowed, noticing the chill. “Is this about the… I mean. I really am sorry about the whole complicated life thing. You have to know I’d want nothing more–”

“Kara, I’ve been politely let down many times in my life,” Lena lied. “I’m not nursing a broken heart. I bear no ill will. I just can’t look at you.”

“Oh.”

“Not in that… not in that way,” Lena shook her head quickly. She lost the game though when she reached out to reassure Kara by touching her forearm. It was all over after that. “Not… Kara, I understand complicated. You don’t owe me anything, and I surely am not going to guilt you into anything. But I can’t look at you and not be completely mesmerized. It’s a problem, actually.”

The reassuring words and the honesty attached to them made Kara smile as she adjusted her glasses.

“Well, let’s not let a little mutual pining get in the way of what I think is a pretty good connection, and at worst a legitimate support system at these things. Friends?”

“I don’t want to lie to you, or be awkward, but that might be difficult. I find you amazing, and I enjoy talking to you, which is new. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve been giving me these signals, and I just…

“No, no, you’re. Yeah,” Kara swallowed and nodded. “You’re not wrong. I have been trying to… to figure out how… if I could, but things are just–”

“Complicated.” Lena smiled softly, encouraging Kara as best she could, not upset or bothered, but resigned to her continued lot in life.

“Exactly.”

“But I suppose I could always use a friend.”

“You mean it?”

“If you don’t mind me thinking about kissing you.”

“Nope, not a bit. Because this dress…” Kara looked her up and down shamelessly. “I think I had at least three heart attacks when I spotted you in it.”

“Well we’re off to a terrible start as just friends,” Lena laughed.

“Yeah. I won’t ask you to wait. I don’t know if my life will ever be not complicated.”

“I’ve got nothing better to do.”

Kara didn’t want to, but she shared a smile and stared at the girl who said things like that, things that made her heart swirl and her head feel like it were being melted like chocolate in a summer car. Just friends shouldn’t have thoughts like she had. Just friends shouldn’t pine so hard. Just friend’s shouldn’t stare at each other’s lips as long as they did. Just friends shouldn’t feel like their lungs were being squeezed by their ribs and happiness just by earning a laugh.

But, well into the night, well past the designated hour of returning home, Kara felt infinitely friendly toward Lena, and had no way to stop herself, and she wasn’t sure why. If pressed as to what was a harder threat to face, a giant alien threat made of Kryptonite or Lena Luthor’s lips and collar bones, Kara would have had an answer before the question was even finished.

Lena Luthor. Lena Luthor every time. No contest.

* * *

There were bells on every corner and there were aptly themed songs oozing from the speakers, peppering the mall with festive revelry. The giant Christmas tree towered four stories while Santa’s territory spread from the food court to the department store with all manner of glitter, extra-large candy displays, and holiday friends commissioned to patrol the tundra bordered by a train propelled by hopes and dreams and change dug from a parent’s pocket or purse.

While most might deem Lena Luthor a Grinch, the moniker was, in fact, unfairly assigned. The truth was, she loved the holidays. As WASP-y as her family was, she always loved the indescribable feeling that infiltrated her during the month of December. Perhaps it was from the winter she had her tonsils out and watched Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer on a loop. Perhaps it was from the only time her house felt marginally like a home because her brother bought her presents and they had parties that were themed and had a point.

The few memories Lena had of her family that were good all happened during the holidays, and as absolutely sad as that was, they were still all she could muster, and thus, she did not hate it, as most would have reckoned.

“But what do you get your kind of crush, but strictly platonic best friend that you’d rather have in your life as just that than not at all?”

Juggling the bags she’d already accumulated, mostly to spoil Jess and a few people at work, as well as a few decorations for her sparsely decorated apartment, Lena wove through the never-ending stream of shoppers. Phone perched carefully against her shoulders, she paused at a directory and scanned, unsure of why there wasn’t a store geared specifically for her needs.

There was a store that sold only containers. How niche could her predicament really be?

And then it sank in that of course, only she would get into the mess that she was in. It was her own special brand of luck, to find a perfect girl who wanted her as well, only to be foiled by… life?

“I have the city planning office on hold right now to answer this?” Jess sighed from the other end of the phone, back at the office and doing her actual job.

“I got you something, too. Don’t be cross.”

“Lena, you should just walk away. Trust me. You don’t know how to have feelings, and this is just going to twist you up.”

“I can… feel things. Sometimes. Occasionally.” Indignantly, she paused once more as she attempted to pick a direction.

“What about a nice bottle of wine?”

“That doesn’t scream for her to drink it with me and then make out? Because that’d be okay, but I respect her.”

“Candles.”

“That’s romance 101.”

“A candle that smells like fireside or evergreen is a mood setter for you?”

“Flames are hot, Jess.”

“They gave you multiple degrees.”

“Gift cards are impersonal, aren’t they?” Lena fret.

“Very.”

“I give most of my employees gift cards.”

“Yes. Exactly.”

All through the mall, Lena debated and hemmed and hawed until Jess decided she’d had enough and pretended the office was going through a tunnel, leaving her boss to her own devices while she actually ran the multi-billion dollar company for the afternoon.

Lena went through the list of things she knew from the lunches that started to become regular occurrences between the friends. Somehow they always ended up close together on the couch. Somehow they always ended up telling each other more personal things than they’d anticipated. But it was nice to have a friend. Even Jess approved.

Kara liked space. She liked stars and planets and stuff like that. She liked flowers. She liked funny movies and she like reading books. She used a lot of pens, but that felt like a graduation gift for a lawyer. Jess said the price limit should be in the friendzone, which did not make sense. No zones had numbers, Lena always just bought things she thought people would like, never thinking about price.

Kara liked to write. She liked notebooks. And she liked to draw. Lena was lucky enough to see some of her drawings, and even a painting, which was astounding. She could buy her a Monet. Or a Seurat. Kara liked them both. Something about Impressionism and the fleetingness of feelings and moments. Lena hung on every word. But a painting like that felt a little over the limit Jess suggested.

But painting supplies.

Carefully, lugging her bags, Lena made her way to the three story bookstore across the mall. They would have journals and sketchbooks and pencils. And that was perfect. She wanted to text Jess, but she was busy and her own hands were full.

The moment Lena placed her bags on the ground after making it to the proper section, she realized her new conundrum. Stacked in front of her in a comically large display were notebooks and paper and pencils and all manner of things she knew absolutely nothing about except that Kara had a small book she carried in her bag, and at home she had a larger one that took up more than her lap. Those were facts. Everything before her was astounding.

For two hours straight, she lamented. Phil was kind enough to take her bags to the car. He was even nice enough to stand beside her and hold up different books, offering his opinions as she bounced ideas from him.

In the end, he retired and she was certain contemplated quitting before deciding that coffee was a good idea, and he slipped into the café with a fishing magazine.

But she finally decided, and she felt proud of herself. It was perfect. Because despite all else, Lena really did just enjoy spending time with Kara, and she’d do almost anything to earn a smile like the ones Kara was fond of giving. It wasn’t a gift to get her to fall in love. That never crossed Lena’s mind. It was just this urge she had to give Kara something special in hopes of getting just a smile. That was where she found herself in her life.

It was the new Lena. The new her. The new start, and she was taking it.

Exactly one year ago, she’d been the most miserable being imaginable. The company was failing, her family was ruined, and she was the one left standing, looking like the failure. Slowly, though, things changed. Lena changed. Or better yet she grew.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you–” The apology came quickly as she rounded a corner in search of a few books for herself. “Kara?”

“Lena, hi,” the reporter smiled for a second before a weird tenseness came to her cheeks and jaw.

“Can we get three books?” a little voice interrupted as Lena furrowed and followed toward the point of origin.

It was Kara.

But miniature.

She cocked her head and stared incredulously. She forgot she was supposed to temper her face when she felt things like surprise, that was how surprised she was. Surprise turned to disbelief turned to doubt turned to fear turned to anger turned to hurt turned to epiphany turned to… turned to… she ran out of feelings. Jess was right, she was only capable of a few.

“Mommy, I know we said two, but I think three is good. Please?” she continued, tugging slightly on Kara’s arm, wagering with nothing at all.

Lena finally understood that phrase about knocking people over with feather’s. She just needed a grain of salt.

“We agreed on two,” Kara regained her sense first, running her hand over her daughter’s light blonde locks, tucking her close to her hip.

She couldn’t estimate children’s ages to save her life, but Lena thought she was definitely younger than ten. Probably older than two. But that didn’t matter. It was those eyes. Kara’s eyes. Kara’s nose, too. Adorable dimples and tan skin, the little girl was perfect and cute and even to Lena, absolutely amazing.

Clad in a winter coat and mittens, an action figure hung from a pocket while she ran her mittened paw under her nose with a sniffle. Wide eyes took in Lena just as she sized up the child.

“Hey, Katie, do you want to say hello to one of Mommy’s friends?” Kara asked.

Mommy. Kara was Mommy. The little girl called her Mommy. Mommy as in mother.

Lena furrowed intently and stared back at Kara as if it were a horror movie before regaining her senses and smoothing her face into the upper-class civility she was cursed to uphold.

“Hello,” she said politely.

“Hello,” Lena nodded awkwardly.

With an amused smile, Kara sighed and knelt down beside her daughter, helping her unzip the coat. She had ladybug rubber boots. Lena wanted to die.

“Let’s go look at books, and you try to pick, okay?”

“Yes! I want long ones. Chatters.”

“Chap-ters.”

“Those,” she nodded eagerly.

“Do you mind if Lena joins us?”

For a moment, the little girl considered it, and Lena almost prayed she would mind. That would be a good enough escape.

“Do you like chatter books?”

“Chap-ter,” Kara repeated with a grin.

“I, um. Me?” Lena looked to Kara who gave her a slight nod. “Yeah. I mean. I love big books.”

“Alright. You can give me recondations.”

“Rec-o-mmen-dations.”

It was decided. Lena followed like a lost puppy, unsure of what else to do or where else to go. The little girl in the pale blue shirt with kittens on it led the way like an expert. Not sure if she was allowed to enter, Lena stayed at the entrance to the kid’s section, one that she could never remember seeing for as many times as she’d been in this exact store.

From the entrance, she tried not to look over the little fence at the other kids. She tried not to watch Kara with her daughter, telling her something before she made her way back to Lena. Most importantly, Lena didn’t think about one damn thing because her brain was hissing.

“If you have any recommendations, please don’t suggest Moby Dick. I’m having a heck of a time convincing her that it’s not a fun whale story.”

Lena finally felt her mouth shut and she swallowed, unable to do anything other than refuse to look at Kara.

For a long few minutes, they watched the little girl sit in a beanbag and pretend to read. She flipped pages and looked at animal pictures before electing to try out the coloring table set up there for the kids.

“So. That’s. It’s. She’s your… your daughter?” she finally managed.

“I should have told you,” Kara acknowledged, guilty as all. “I just thought. Maybe there’s. That we could. Maybe I was ready. And I kept being not ready.”

It stung. Six months of friendship. Deep friendship. And lingering looks. And hugs. Soft hugs. Hugs that lasted longer than polite or friendly. And suddenly, Lena had no idea who Kara was, which was downright frightening.

“She’s the. Um. You said. You said your life was complicated?”

“I’m a single mom. Her dad… it didn’t. It wasn’t anything. It was–”

“Complicated.”

“Yeah,” Kara smiled, though it was sadder than any Lena could remember. “But I got Katie, and I couldn’t regret anything that led to her. She’s not a complication. But having her makes my life complicated. I haven’t imagined dating… since i had her… until you.”

“Yeah. I’d imagine.”

“You don’t like kids, do you?”

“I’ve never particularly thought of them at all, honestly. I don’t know any, either”

“I have a four year old daughter, Lena,” Kara finally said, facing her for the first time since bumping into her. She searched for Lena’s eyes, and Lena gave in because she always would, no matter what. “She is funny and smart and passionate. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell you so often, but I didn’t know how.”

That made sense. They spent the first two nights they met flirting and talking about bridges. How would one slip in the fact that they’d produced offspring after lingering glances and drunken confessions? But it didn’t matter that it made sense. It hurt. It changed everything.

“She looks like you,” Lena finally offered. She could feel Kara wanting to fill the silence. “She’s probably one of the cuter kids I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s high praise.”

“She wants to read Moby Dick?” she scrunched up her face, oddly amused at the precociousness.

“She likes whales. She likes science things. She takes after my father, honestly. Too smart for their own good.”

“As a science kid, I can tell you, it is definitely not for their own good.”

Kara smiled. That relieved kind of smile where she realize Lena wasn’t irreparably mad at her, though perhaps she didn’t realize the extent of her hurt.

“You… lied to me,” the CEO whispered, shaking her head. “Omission is still a lie.” Kara snapped her mouth after attempting to disagree. “That. It hurts, more than I thought it might.”

“I’m so sorry, Lena. You can’t understand how sorry I am. She’s just… “ she sighed looking at her daughter. “She’s the best part of me. She is where my head is, and I worry about people coming and leaving like her… like her father did.”

“It’s just a lot to process,” Lena acknowledged.

“Yeah. It is. I come with a lot of baggage.”

“But that’s it? That little thing is the reason you didn’t want to date me?”

“You don’t understand what it’s like to get those eyes asking where Daddy is. I couldn’t… I can’t date someone just casually. If you’re in my life, you’re in her’s. I didn’t– I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“Still, Kara. I thought… I don’t know. I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” she answered quickly. “We are, Lena.”

“I understand how this is complicated.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m glad I got to meet her though,” Lena nodded. “I should go. I have… work. Yes. Work.”

“Hey, wait,” Kara held her forearm and Lena looked down to see them touching. “Are we okay?”

“Of course.”

“Do you mean that?”

“I don’t know,” Lena sighed honestly. “A lie is a lie. I don’t…” she furrowed again.

“I’m sorry, Lena.” Her words were earnest and so deep with feeling. She had her reasons, and Lena could appreciate that. But something about it… it just changed things. Kara wasn’t even a lingering chance anymore. She was… she was a never-going-to-happen.

“I know,” she nodded, taking a deep breath. “I’ll see you around, Kara.”

“Lunch?”

“Call Jess whenever.”

With a single last glance over at the little girl, Lena put her hands in her pockets and hunched into herself as she moved toward the waiting town car. Her brain had too many thoughts and not enough thoughts simultaneously.

“Where to, Ms. Luthor?”

“Home. Please. Quickly.”


	2. Marshmallows

The apartment was decked in all of the holiday spirit. Lights on every surface, sloppy snowflakes cut and taped on the windows, stockings hung with care and construction paper and cotton ball snowmen on the walls. The tree itself was modest in girth, but laden with ornaments, all kinds of handmade, hot glue gunned and glitter bespeckled entities.

The early evening sun set outside, allowing the balcony to glitter in the dark, the multi-color lights coming inside, strung all around, covering the walls. The modest apartment was all greens and reds and golds and blues and filled with possibilities for merriment that the season lent all moments to having.

Even though it was still three days before Christmas, there were already gifts, much to the joy of the four year old.

“Hey! I can hear you touching those presents!” Kara called from her bedroom.

“I was just looking!”

“Looking is done with the eyes.”

With a growl, the little girl crawled away from the tree, once again taking a seat on the couch and staring intently at the gifts that taunted her. Some movie played on the television, though it was not as interesting as what was hidden in those lead lined boxes.

In the background, she listened as her mother finished getting dressed, and she tugged at the collar of the sweater that itched her neck.

“Lena, if you get this, please call me. I think we should talk. Or at least I hope you still want to,” Kara sighed as she walked back through the living room in search of something in the laundry room behind the kitchen. “I miss you. And I’m sorry. I never meant to… I just. I know you need to process and think– dang.”

“That’s a bad word.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara mumbled, staring at her phone. She gave herself a deep breath before nodding and deciding that was all she could do. “Are you ready for Uncle J’onn’s Christmas party?”

“Maggie said she was going to make those cookies, with the icing but I could put sprinkles on.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t know that,” Kara smiled wide. “And tonight, what movie would you like to watch?”

“The one with the train.”

Little feet hopped up from the couch and followed her mother as she tried to finish getting ready, which was a feat with an inquisitive little one and presents in the same room.

“What about the Grinch?”

“Oh yeah! I want that one too.”

“Too? We should watch more than one?” Kara held her jaw open in mock surprise. “I don’t know… we might have to make popcorn, and then eat some of those extra Christmas cookies. Maybe stay up past bedtime to watch two movies.”

“Can we please, Mommy?” she asked, crawling up on the bed.

Katie liked watching Kara get ready. She liked sitting on her big bed and imagining she’d be big and strong like her. That was a nice thought.

“We’ll see,” she decided. “Let’s get shoes on. Up up, little one.”

In a move, the little girl braced herself before sprinting out of the room in a blink. Kara just smiled to herself and followed at a human pace.

“Hey, hey, not on the couch,” she chided, pulling on her own shoes and grabbing their coats as the door rang out with a knock. “Coat and mittens and hat or else we aren’t going anywhere.”

She wasn’t expecting anyone, and she certainly wasn’t expecting a man in a suit with bags in his hands.

“Hi,” Kara smiled while a little girl ran around behind her, trying to pull on her mittens before her shoes.

“Ms. Danvers?”

“Yes?”

“Ms. Luthor asked me to drop these off for you. She left to spend the holiday vacation abroad, but wanted you to have them.”

“Did she… is she… I mean. She’s okay?” Kara furrowed.

“She’s skiing with friends in the Alps,” he promised. “Happy Holidays.”

A second later, bags were thrust into her hand and Kar took them carefully. Maybe that was why Lena hadn’t answered calls and been too busy for lunch. That would make sense. For a moment, it was a relief.

“Who’s are these for? Me?”

“Hm? Oh. I don’t know. I think…. Do you remember Lena from the bookstore?” Katie nodded. “She must have sent us presents.”

“That’s nice. We can open them now if you want.”

Still in a bit of a whirlwind, Kara closed the door and looked at the items. She suddenly understood how her daughter could be so eager to open things when she didn’t know what was in them.

Kara as a goner for that look her daughter gave her. That, and her own eagerness to know what Lena could have possibly sent her for the holiday. A little box was wrapped on her dresser for the Luthor, though she wasn’t sure she’d have a chance to give it to her.

“Just this one, and we will write Lena a thank you note, right?”

“Right,” she agreed, eagerly tugging off her mittens.

They were going to be late, but neither Danvers cared at all as they settled on the couch. Gently, Kara handed her daughter the bag with her name on it in the precise, tiny letters she recognized as Lena’s.

“I don’t know Lena and she got me presents.”

“She’s nice.”

Katie thought of the words before pulling things from her Christmas bag. Kara had to move quick to snap a picture of the face that came when a tiny stuffed whale emerged. Excitedly, the little girl rubbed the soft against her cheek before digging into the bag again. A stack of children’s books emerged, all with a distinct theme.

“How did she know I love this?” Katie breathed all joy and eagerness. “Can we read right now?”

“We have to go to the party.”

“Tonight?”

“Of course.”

Kara wanted to stop herself, but she couldn’t. Slowly, she pulled the beautiful notebook from her gift bag, followed by the set of pastels and another of pencils. She smiled to herself at the gift before stilling her heart.

“Now you can color more with me!” Katie observed, crawling across the couch to see what her mother got. “Those are nice things.”

“They are,” Kara agreed. “Should we send Lena a picture of how much we like our things?”

“Yes! Here,” her daughter wiggle to the floor and tried to hold all of her books. “Show her how much I love all of my new stories please!”

Beaming, both smiled so big theirs eyes were closed, and Kara snapped a picture before sending it to Lena.

Christmas came early. Thank you so much. We both are very excited and grateful. Can’t wait to give you yours when you get back.

The entirety of the Christmas party, Kara thought about the gifts, and she thought about Lena, wondering if she hadn’t just ruined something good. And she tried not to, but she couldn’t help it, and so she kept checking her phone for a response from the other side of the world. And she would catch herself looking at the picture she sent, and how her little girl was over the moon to have books about whales.

Because of the strict movie schedule they had for the month, they didn’t stay late at the party. It was all adults anyway, and Katie could only stomach so much of being the cute little girl everyone doted on.

Snug in warm jammies, snuggled in her spaceship themed comforter, beneath the fake constellations on the ceiling, Kara laid beside her sleeping daughter on her single bed and inhaled the smell that was just her, all little and quiet and Katie. She listened to the quiet of her breathing and flipped through a few of the books they didn’t make it to, and she watched her daughter tug the little whale a little tighter as she dreamt. She couldn’t imagine being happier than a moment like that, and yet her mind was asking if it were possible.

Quietly, she turned off the light after gathering the books and leaving them on top of the bookshelf.

Once more, Kara checked her phone.

I don’t know if anything cuter has ever existed than the two of you receiving Christmas gifts, Lena messaged sometime between bath and storytime.

Isn’t it like 4 in the morning where you are?

I’m not a great sleeper.

Kara considered her options for a moment. She looked at the blank drawing book on the coffee table with the expensive tools and colors atop it. Her phone hovered over a name for a minute before she gave up and called.

Each ring made her heart stop over again.

“Hey,” Lena whispered.

“Hi,” Kara grinned.

* * *

The best time of the day was when the hurricane that was her daughter was somewhat tired. But to get her to that state took an alarming amount of work. Half-Kryptonian, Half-Daxamite and fully charged, she was just a lot. This meant there were days spent running around the park, and days where Kara would take her flying, just to burn off some of the energy that the after lunch nap seemed to recharge. Kara got good at being creative, hoping to exhaust her daughter physically and mentally in new ways as often as possible. Leaving her to her own devices was dangerous. It led to broken furniture and ceilings covered in crayons.

Nearly five years old, and she was too smart. Kara wondered if she was like that as a kid. Twelve thousand questions per day, some nonsensical and impossible to answer, others that just spiraled into deeper, more complex issues. Katie was her favorite thing on the planet. In the universe.

“Blow on it, but blow gently,” Kara warned as she placed hot chocolate on the counter and her daughter knelt on the stool. Gently was a word they were still learning.

“What are marshmallows made of?”

“You know, I’m not sure.”

“Is there a tree? Do they get picked?” she asked, watching the little candies swirling around as she blew on the cocoa. “Grandma has a orange tree where oranges grow and I can pick them. She let me fly up there to get them.”

“I’m almost certain they don’t grow on trees,” Kara smiled and blew on her own.

“Ask your phone where marshmallows come from please?”

With a tug in her pocket, Kara pulled out her phone and they commenced another round of research. Her daughter was attempting to use Google so much that her search history would surely be the amalgamation of the weirdest queries of all time, with such golden moments as “Do dolphins dream?” and “Who invented alarm clocks?” in good company with “Where do marshmallows come from?”

A few videos and a rabbit hole of links later, and Katie hurried into her room to grab her messy notebook she kept adding to with new information.

“So it does grow on trees,” she asked, pushing it toward Kara, so she could write in the facts.

“It was once made using the roots of a plant,” her mom corrected. “Now, it’s just a lot of sugar and junk mixed very fast.”

“Can you write that marshmallows come from roots sometimes?” she asked, sipping her hot cocoa. “And maybe draw one so I can color it.”

“Sure,” Kara grinned, carefully adding the note on the next open page.

Feet kicking in the air from the stool, Katie watched her mom work and draw and write. She furrowed, as she was prone to do, deep in thought about the newest addition to their encyclopedia.

“I still wish they grew on trees,” she decided.

Kara agreed and drank some of her own once she finished jotting. For good measure, she added a mug of cocoa in the drawing.

“Is it Aunt Alex? Can we go sledding now?”

The notification that buzzed the phone wasn’t her sister, but still, Kara opened it eagerly, smiling at the text from Lena.

“Sorry, it’s just a friend of mine. I’ll call though and hopefully we can go soon.”

“Which friend?”

“Lena.”

“Whale lady,” Katie nodded appreciatively, sipping from her mug quite studiously, earning a chuckle from her mother.

Before she replied, Kara stared at her phone and then again at her daughter. The faintest spot of dimple could be seen, even when she wasn’t smiling. Her eyes were bluer than her own, her hair a lighter blonde. A chocolate mustache completed the look of a wintery Sunday. Sometimes, Kara had trouble even believing she existed.

“Hey, can I ask you a question, Katie?”

“But of course,” she nodded, repeating her Uncle J’onn’s favorite line and accent.

“Do you know how your friends in daycare sometimes have mommies and daddies?”

“Yeah, like Becca. Sometimes they both pick her up.”

“Right, exactly,” Kara nodded. “And you know how Mommy and Daddy don’t live together? And that’s okay, too?”

“Yeah, because Daddy is on another planet,” she nodded, matter-of-a-factly.

“Well, yes. But even if he lived here, we wouldn’t live together. Because we aren’t married, and we aren’t together like Becca’s parents are.”

“Because families are all weird. Like ohana. You can be ohana and be a picked family.”

“Yes. Exactly. Becca lives with her mom and dad, and you live with just your mom. Both are normal and good, right?”

“Sometimes I wish Daddy was on this planet,” Katie confessed between sips.

“Sometimes I do too,” Kara agreed with a sad smile. “But I wanted to know if you would mind if Mommy spent time with someone.”

“How much time?”

“I’m not sure.”

“When?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Why?”

“Okay, um,” she ran her hand along her neck awkwardly and tilted her head slightly, searching for an answer. “So before mommies and daddies have babies, they date. Like, do you remember before Alex married Maggie?”

“No.”

“Right, you were two,” Kara sighed and took another drink of hot chocolate. “This would be easier if you remembered.”

“What is dating?” she asked, cocking her head slightly as she licked her lips of cocoa foam.

“It’s when adults get to know each other and see if they want to get married and have babies. Sometimes you get married when you date, and sometimes you don’t.” Kara winced and wondered how so many words could describe such a simple notion. “Like when you go on playdates. It’s just hanging out with someone else. But when you’re a grown up, it’s a little different.”

“Like you and Daddy.”

“Right! We never got married, we just dated,” Kara nodded, leaning forward. “Our family has always just been me and you, and I love that. But I was wondering if you might not like Mommy bringing someone else around.”

“So it won’t be you and me anymore?” she worried, eyes growing wide at the idea of it.

“No, no no. It is always going to be me and you, love. Always and forever. Just maybe we can have another person who hangs out with us sometimes? Like when Lilo adopted Stitch, and then Stitch joined and they had a new ohana. Remember that?”

“Like when Dylan comes over to play?”

“Um, kind of,” Kara nodded, regretting this conversation immensely. “Mommy met someone she likes a lot. Likes like how Aladdin like Jasmine.”

“To do the kissy stuff with?” Katie squinted up her face at the notion.

“Yes.”

“I don’t have to see the kissy stuff do I?”

“No, honey. You don’t. I just wanted to see if it would bother you, to see me kiss someone who wasn’t Daddy.”

“You kissed Daddy?” she yucked.

“Oh man, this is getting out of control.”

Both resigned themselves to their drinks. Both wanted to forget this conversation. Kara wasn’t sure if she’d accomplished anything at all, or if it was all in her head that it would be a problem. Katie was stuck on the kissing part.

“If you want to kiss kiss someone, I think you should,” Katie decided after finishing the last bit of hot chocolate. “Maggie was sad once when she comes home, and Aunt Alex gave her a kiss and then she smiled. If kisses make someone happy, they should get lots of kisses. We need a Stitch.”

“I agree,” Kara smiled warmly.

“Can you write a note about all of this. I should learn what dating is.”

“Um. Yeah, but we can discuss that in a lot more years away from now,” the mother decided, picking up the pen once again.

“Okay,” Katie decided, waiting for Kara to start writing on the page after Marshmallows. She watched her hesitate and contemplate many things. “Mommy, if you have someone to kiss, will you be happy like Maggie?”

Kara looked up at her daughter and relaxed a little at the innocent question that she’d been asking herself in some form or another for weeks.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “But I do know that Katie Kisses are my favorites.”

“That’s me.”

“I think it’s time,” Kara sang, her hands going up wide and tall.

“No! No!” she giggled and tried to crawl off of the stool. “Mama no!”

“Oh yes,” Kara roared and stomped around the kitchen with a big smile. “Monster kisses are coming!”

Squeals and giggles could be heard as she chased her daughter to the couch, pinning her there and tickling her ribs while slobbering on her cheeks and neck. Not one thing would matter more than a moment like that.

* * *

Something about coming home after a long time was delicious and sad at the same time. Just three weeks, and already the penthouse felt a little less familiar. There was this eerie feeling to stepping into a quiet place that hadn’t seen life in weeks. Everything was the same but felt as if it came from a dream.

Lena placed her purse on the table beside the door and thanked the doorman for helping her with her luggage as she took in a deep breath of her home.

It took a lot of working over in her head. The vacation was needed, and it turned into something better than expected. When Kara called her in the middle of the night, they talked for hours. And it happened again the second night. And it happened again, every night. It took a lot of working over in her head, but Lena could understand the lie, as much as it hurt. It was the getting over it part that was still difficult.

The Christmas decorations were all gone, and the house looked normal, all white and muted hues, all pristine and unlived in. Quietly, Lena stood there, almost afraid to move, suddenly very alone and awkward in her own house.

Despite the late hour, Lena dug for her laptop and decided work was the best distraction from being in the same city as her… as Kara. It was short lived, as she found a Christmas themed present sitting on her kitchen counter.

‘This was delivered to the office. I thought you might like it when you got home. -Jess.’

Lena smiled at the note and picked up the other piece of paper, a large drawing done in crayon with scribbles and not much else to it. At the bottom, in perfect pen and then traced by messy blue crayon, was the name Katie Danvers.

‘I couldn’t find a real bridge for sale, but we went to the museum and saw this and I thought of you. Merry Christmas, Lena, XoXo Kara.’

As quickly as she could remember opening a present in her life, Lena tore into the delicately wrapped box. Gently, she took out the snow globe with the Justice Bridge in it, gallantly connecting East and West Metropolis. Tall buildings were eclipsed by the exaggerated bridge, and Lena shook it a few times, creating a flurry swirling around it.

She looked at the scribbled picture and she looked at the snow globe and shook her head. It wasn’t possible. She couldn’t do… that. She couldn’t… Kids wouldn’t like her. And to be with Kara meant having a kid attached and that was a lot. How could Lena, the childhoodless child who still needed someone to remind her to eat possibly be involved with someone with a kid? Her earliest memories were hiding under the bed from a stepmother and trying to run away. She wasn’t an example that anyone should want around.

To have Kara meant she had to have Katie. And it wasn’t that the little girl wasn’t cute and surely sweet like her mother, but just that Lena, was, in her own opinion, by far the absolute worst person to be around.

The door knocked with the inevitable arrival of the rest of her luggage. She left her laptop on the counter and took the snow globe with her, toying with it and smiling fondly at the reporter she met on accident.

“Thanks, James,” she smiled as she opened the door, still swirling her toy in her hands. 

“You were expecting someone else?”

“Kara,” she breathed, looking up instantly.

“Welcome home.”

The luggage arrived as the elevator dinged. Both stepped aside as it rolled into her living room behind them. The entire time, Lena stared at Kara as if she were an alien, as if she couldn’t believe she was real.

There were still snowflakes melting in the gentle waves of her hair. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose had a pinkness to them because of the January tint in the chilly night. Breathlessly, she just stared back at Lena with a lot of words to say and no way to make them come out of her mouth.

“Thank you, James,” Lena nodded as he politely excused himself. “Would you like to come in?”

“You got your present,” Kara nudged her chin as she unwound her scarf. “Thank you for what you sent us. Katie has had me reading Amos and Boris every night. And I’ve… I really enjoy having an excuse to draw again.”

“What did you think of the museum?”

“What?”

The door closed and Kara unzipped her coat. Lena looked back at the snow globe and smiled, cradling it to her stomach.

“The History Museum. I sponsored the Women in History section. Well, LCorp did.”

“We loved it, actually.”

They were left there, not looking and looking at each other. For the eternity, Kara couldn’t remember why she thought coming over was a good idea. But Lena looked very good, and she smelled good, and she’d missed her greatly.

“Kara, I think we–”

“We should talk,” they both rushed.

“You first,” Lena offered.

“I know we’ve talked a lot, but we haven’t talked about… something. I didn’t mean to lie to you. We met, and just… I wouldn’t let myself consider how I’d feel about you.” She wrung her fingers as she explained, hoping to keep them locked up from waving around as she tried to find the right words. “But I have a daughter, and I thought I was happy. I never thought to be unhappy… But I realized I could be happier, if you were around.”

“We’re friends, Kara.”

“I know, but we’re not, you know? You were right. It’s not just you. There’s always… just… this layer to us,” she shook her head and knit her hand in her hair. “I met you and now I can’t stop thinking that there could always be more happiness.”

“I… Do you… Kara, I don’t know anything about kids. I’m not exactly an expert in normal.”

“Neither are we,” Kara chuckled. “I’ve been so nervous to see you, because this is scary. But I think it takes just a little bit of courage and then you move on from there.”

“I like you,” Lena confessed, looking at the bridge and the snow flurrying around in her hands, afraid to meet her eyes when she admitted it. To say it out loud was a violent kind of rebellion.

She swallowed as Kara’s hands held her own, as they moved to her neck and jaw, making her eyes close at the feeling and closeness. When she finally opened them, she sighed at Kara’s smile.

“You walked up to me at a party, and nothing else really matters,” she promised.

“I don’t know. A lot of things matter.”

“Is it the kid thing?” Kara fret. Her hands were still on Lena. She was still close. “Or is it something else.”

“We do have differing opinions of pizza toppings, and honestly that’s what’s holding me up.”

Lena earned a smile. She did everything she could to get Kara to smile and laugh when they talked late into the night. She wasn’t successful as much as she would have liked, but having it in person was a lot.

“I didn’t want to try because I thought something might change,” she whispered. “But I talked to her, and I don’t think she understands, but I think she knows that having the whale lady around makes her mom happy.”

“The… the whale lady?”

“That’s nowhere close to the weirdest thing out of her mouth.”

“Kara, are you going to kiss me anytime soon?” Lena shook her head, disregarding the many questions she had regarding the entire kid thing. Her thoughts were solely on the girl who bought her a bridge.

“I, um,” she swallowed and searched Lena’s face. “I want to, but… if we’re being honest. There’s one more thing I might have to tell you.”

“If you’re married, I’m retiring and moving to Switzerland.”

“Um, no,” Kara laughed awkwardly. “Never married. But my daughter’s father is an alien.”

“Oh.”

“And so am I.”

“Oh.”


	3. Ankylosaurus

“Never married. But my daughter’s father is an alien.”

“Oh.”

“And so am I.”

“Oh.”

Lena pushed away from Kara, putting some distance between them as she suddenly found herself in desperate need of some air. She needed time to process things, and she needed to understand how she got herself into this very situation, because it felt comically unfair and very absolutely ridiculous.

To her credit, Kara accepted that. She accepted that the world changed and she could almost feel the axis of the earth adjust differently because of this new knowledge and the risk she was taking. But Lena Luthor was a risk worth taking, she decided.

Quietly, Kara watched Lena process, her brain working insanely fast, just behind her eyes. There were many calculations not adding up, if she wasn’t mistaken.

“I don’t care that you’re an alien,” Lena shook her head. “I know you’re thinking that I do, but I–”

“No, no,” Kara assured her. “I just had to tell you the truth. I haven’t told anyone in so long. But this little girl is the reason that Supergirl had to retire. Not you. When you asked me that– I just felt so bad. I know you don’t hate–”

“You’re Supergirl?”

With a furrow and a heavy sigh, Lena plopped down on her couch. She bent over and rooted her hands in her hair, shaking her head from side to side. Kara stood there awkwardly and ran her hand up her neck, itching their to distract herself from the state of her life. She thought that she’d been so close to kissing, and now she might have lost the first real shot at being happy that she’d allowed herself.

“I was,” she swallowed.

“I fell for a mother,” Lena closed her eyes and sat back, defeated. “A mother with a kid, and I barely made it through my own childhood. I never wanted to be… I just… and to top it off, you’re Supergirl. Of course you are.”

“Was,” Kara corrected again.

“A Luthor, falling for a girl with a kid is almost as bonkers as falling for a Super.”

“I don’t think they have anything to do with each other. I told you because I trust you, and I know you, Lena.”

“My life is a tragicomedy.”

The room was quiet as neither knew really what they were feeling or what anything meant. They met at a party, and they felt the pull, the connection. It wasn’t made up and it wasn’t imagined. Somehow, two people found each other, and felt compelled to be close to each other. They wanted more, and now, having admitted it, were faced with the realization that it wouldn’t come easy, or perhaps at all.

“So that’s it?” the former hero asked, realizing that it might have been too much. “You can forgive me being Supergirl, but not having Katie?”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I just– Kara, I’m a Luthor. Do you know what that means?”

“It means you love bridges and hate small talk.”

“That’s what being Lena means. You’re… I hate what my name means. You want me around your kid?”

“I want you.”

It was honest and it was succinct. Lena couldn’t really fathom much of what was happening. The alien thing was a lot, because Kara looked so normal, and she stammered so human, that it was impossible. How could the girl who spilled coffee on her pants lift houses and tanks? How could the girl who blushed when Lena was a little too flirtatious, be the same person who chased down missles and absorbed bullets without taking a scratch?

“My brother killed your cousin.”

“Yeah.”

“You put me through this, knowing that it’d never work?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

Green eyes stared back at her, almost disgusted and so angry and wounded that it broke Kara’s heart to a new degree.

“It was complicated enough before, but with this… I’m not someone you need.”

“You’re someone I want. The only someone I want and have wanted in… I can’t even remember how long.”

With a heavy sigh, Lena steepled her hands in front of her face and thought about it while Kara shifted, sitting beside her nervously. She wanted to say something, to do something worth convincing her, and yet nothing came to mind.

“Can I have some time?” Lena asked, her voice distant, her eyes refusing to look at the girl beside her.

There was nothing else to do, she’d laid it on the line, and with that, Kara stood again and debated what came next. With no real idea, and no future in sight, she tried to climb out of the wreckage of her attempt at taking a risk.

“Of course.”

* * *

High atop the city, the office of Lena Luthor looked over the entire city like a dominion to an ancient kingdom. Of course, she didn’t have time to look at the view often. In fact, for the longest time, Jess was almost certain her boss never turned around despite the beautiful view.

But after the return from the holidays, there really wasn’t anything that could distract Lena from looking outside, distracted and not really bothered about anything like work. It was a strange kind of thing to see, for the secretary, who considered herself oddly in tune with Lena’s weird moods and habits.

By the third day of relative inactivity and hard pondering, Jess wasn’t sure what to do exactly, but just that she had to do something.

“I brought donuts,” the secretary sang as she slid into the office. It was much perkier than usual, though she didn’t earn the usual scowl that came when she used that voice. “The good kind, from Leon’s over on Queen Street.”

“Jess, I met a girl at a party,” Lena sighed.

Jackpot, Jess smiled to herself as she opened the box and set it on her boss’ desk. CEO and certified genius, and still no match for a state school educated secretary and a box of fried dough.

“Kara, right?”

“I asked her out. I didn’t tell you that part.”

“I am shocked,” she deadpanned, selecting a treat for herself after Lena picked her own.

The phones in the lobby were ringing, and she was sure emails were piling up, but Jess was doing her job the best way she could, and she was going to enjoy this donut and get her boss back on track, come hell or high water.

“She said things were complicated. And they are. She has a… there’s just something about her that I can’t believe she told me, but I’m glad she did, and I’m not mad about it, I just never in a million years anticipated it.”

The ramble came between picking apart the pastry and wallowing. Jess did her best to follow, though it was quite difficult. The thing about being friends with Lena Luthor, was that it took almost an entire thesaurus to follow what she actually meant versus what she said.

“What in the world could she have told you that caused this much anxiety?”

“She has a kid.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Lena slunk back in her chair. “And hypothetically, this kid– I never wanted kids, Jess. I barely can keep a plant alive. Look at those on my shelf. They’ve seen better days, and I water them constantly.”

“They’re plastic.”

“Really?” she furrowed and grew upset at the news.

“No,” the secretary smiled to herself “I make sure they’re taken care of by the janitors.”

“See! And Kara is brilliant. She’s beautiful. She’s so kind and funny and sweet and beautiful and she has a kid.”

“So?”

“If I date her, I date the kid as well. To be fair, she seems like a smart kid, so she’ll figure out I don’t know the first thing about kids.”

“How old is she?”

“Kara’s about twenty six, I think,” Lena furrowed until Jess gave her a look. “Oh! The kid. Katie. She’s four.”

Jess knew the problem was something related to Kara. She knew that her boss had it bad for her and she’d never really seen Lena so over the moon about someone. It was all new territory for everyone involved.

Halfway through her donut, Lena tossed it on the box and leaned back in her chair, annoyed at herself and the predicament. She shouldn’t wallow. She shouldn’t take time to think, because deep down she knew what it all meant.

“You like her, don’t you?” Jess finally ventured in the quiet. She didn’t need an answer. “Talk to her. So what she has a kid? You never planned on running LCorp, and you’re fantastic at it. I think you’ll be great at whatever you set your mind to, Lena. You just have to get out of your head about it and let yourself try something without a complete cost-risk analysis.”

“I should do one of those,” Lena perked up at the not suggestion.

“Talk to her. Date her. Fall in love and leave the office at a normal hour.”

“She has a kid. A kid she didn’t tell me about for six months.”

“How are you mad about that?” Jess groaned. “That’s just impressive, and in all honesty, she kept you at a distance to protect you, but you went and fell for her anyway, and it sounds like she fell for you if she’s willing to share that with you.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Why?”

That was the question, wasn’t it, Lena thought as soon as it was asked. She’d been taken with Kara from the first second she spoke with her. There was this tug, this ache to be near her and know her, and Lena couldn’t fight it. She didn’t know how. It hurt so much because she was going against what her gut and heart was telling her stupid brain.

“I don’t know.”

“Talk to her,” the secretary decided, taking the box with her. “And I’ll give you another donut.”

Lena smiled and snatched her’s before it was lost to her employee’s clutches for good. She loved Jess, and that felt good. Maybe she could do it for someone else, too.

“You deserve love and happiness. Just don’t talk yourself out of it because you’re afraid, okay?”

“Fine,” Lena nodded.

For a moment, as soon as Jess stepped out, Lena typed something to Kara, and erased it, completing that circuit probably a dozen times. The kid was the big issue. The real question though, was could she date Supergirl?

* * *

After a week, Kara was certain that all was lost with Lena. And she understood it. She’d lied, she had a kid, she had a sordid past that conflicted slightly with the Luthor-ness. And every day of radio silence, it hurt more and more. A dull ache existed and Lena felt herself grow blue at the notion of never seeing Lena again. She hadn’t really expected to feel like that.

But just as she was putting on a happy face for her daughter and finishing up bath time, she heard her phone ding. By the time she checked it, Lena had already sent three more messages, each clarifying the last in an adorably flustered kind of way.

 _I’ll be over around nine, if that’s alright?_ Kara smiled as she typed out the words.

_Perfect._

It was a good sign, she told herself. There’s no way she’d message to get rid of her, right? Kara clung to that, though for the life of her, she still wasn’t sure she knew how to date or if she could. It didn’t make sense at all. She had a kid, and she was supposed to protect her and spend all of her time with her.

But Kara had that ache and that pull that made her say she’d be there. The unfortunate thing remained that she wasn’t sure what to say, as she’d spent the better part of a week repressing any kind of thoughts. She ran from them, actively, and was fairly successful.

By the time she touched down on Lena’s balcony, Kara was less clear on her own feelings and still oddly worried that Lena didn’t want her.

Before she was even noticed, Kara smiled and watched Lena pace and stop, pace and stop, pace and stop before sipping her wine, following immediately by stretching slightly as she began to pace once more. It was unique and so intimately Lena, something that Kara thought she’d forgotten after just a week.

Hair loose after a long day, her clothes were much more comfortable, just jeans and an old sweatshirt. It was easily one of the top three outfits Kara could remember seeing Lena in. And she’d ranked and catalogued them all because her brain could do nothing else than things like that.

After another sip of wine, Kara figured Lena might be steeled enough to see her, and after checking her watch and recognizing that she was right on time, she rapped against the door.

Few things in life would stand out more than the way Lena tensed and then relaxed when she met Kara’s eyes and offered a smile.

With purpose, Lena made her way to the door, and Kara knew tonight was going to change her life. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew things wouldn’t be the same after Lena Luthor was done with her.

“Hi,” Kara offers weakly, unsure of herself.

“I need you to stand right there and stay still, okay?” Lena dismissed the niceties and remained furrowed with the task at hand.

“Um, sure.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Kara tried to follow the orders as best as she could. Mostly, she was fascinated by the entire thought process that was happening across those green eyes, that she really didn’t have time to react to anything else.

Instead, she just stood there and waited.

All business and very formal, Lena took a step forward, and suddenly she was very close. Kara tensed when hands moved to her shoulders, though she didn’t move anything at all. Instead, she felt her hands move to Lena’s hips of their own choice. She gulped under Lena’s intense stare, but melted when the look shifted to her own lips.

There’d been many times her own eyes had made the trip to Lena’s lips. She liked them. Liked when they smiled and twitched in annoyance. She liked when the bottom one would be bitten and nibbled with worry.

Raising herself to her tiptoes, Lena pressed forward and kissed Kara with no more words or introduction. She just pressed her lips against the hero’s and hoped for the best. It took Kara a few seconds to catch up, but when she did, she gripped hips a little tighter, wanting so badly to hold onto a moment like that forever. But Lena’s lips were tinged with wine and felt perfect. It was going to be a problem.

“That was my deciding factor,” Lena whispered as she pulled away, oddly dazed herself after a few seconds of deepening kiss.

“Oh?”

“I’m a scientist, Kara. I need facts.”

“And what fact involves kissing me after not talking to me for a week?” Kara taunted. She didn’t let go of Lena though. She couldn’t.

“I just wanted to know if kissing you would be good. If not, then that’d help make a decision,” she explained, so systematic and matter of factly, that Kara couldn’t help but smile.

“How’d it go?”

“It was a blind study. The results aren’t peer-reviewed.”

“Had I known, I’d have done better,” Kara grinned.

So effortlessly, she was back to being herself near her friend, that it went unnoticed that they had much harder conversations to have. They didn’t care. Lena smiled when Kara played along with her, though they both knew that she was very serious about a probable mathematic equation to score the kiss and somehow it really would factor into a long list of pros and cons.

“I couldn’t tell you. It was a blind–”

Before the words were out, Kara leaned forward and kissed the scientist in her arms. She wanted to kiss her months ago. She wanted to kiss her a few days ago. She wanted to kiss her often, and she didn’t know how long she’d have to actually do it.

Kara was a mother and a parent and a reporter and had responsibilities, and yet, she wanted to kiss Lena anyway, despite everything else.

Instead of thinking of anything else, she put everything into the kiss. Less surprised, this time she gave it her all. She cupped Lena’s cheek and neck. She held her tight and she dragged it out as long as humanly possible. It was a deeper kiss. It was a kiss that could have been indecent to some.

Lena didn’t fight it, but rather opened her mouth when Kara traced her lip with her tongue. She purred slightly against Kara’s thumb on her neck and blushed and flushed all at once with too much heat on her body.

“If I knew what was on the line, I would have kissed you like that,” Kara whispered as soon as she came up for air.

With all the effort she could manage, Lena composed herself and pushed away from the former superhero on her balcony. She turned away and ran her fingertips over her lips.

“You have a kid, Kara, and I’m not really ready for that, but I could be ready for you,” Lena finally offered. “I’m a mess. I’m not good at any of this, but I really want to try, because I want to be happy and you make me happy.”

“Yeah?” she grinned, loopy and dazed and excited by the news.

“I don’t know how to do this.”

“Why don’t we take it slow and then go from there? You don’t have to meet her yet. So long as you know that one day you will. She’s not going anywhere.”

“You’re worth it,” Lena decided.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

“Hey, Baby, are you on the ceiling again?” Kara called as she frantically moved back and forth through her bedroom, trying to find something to wear.

“No…” a tiny voice called, clearly on the ceiling.

“Down, now!”

“Aunt Alex said I could!” she pouted.

“Sorry, that was me,” her sister chuckled as she meandered into Kara’s room.

Gone was the relative order of the cozy room, and in its place was the contents of her closet, spilled out on every surface. Alex cocked and eyebrow and gave her sister a look that went unnoticed as another outfit was tossed onto a nameless pile in favor of another one.

“You a little nervous about this first date?”

“I’ve asked you to stop encouraging her to fly inside,” Kara ignored her sister as she pulled on another dress. “She’s broken three fans.”

“Remember when you broke two walls?”

“Exactly my point.”

“Mommy you look pretty,” Katie decided, following the adults and hopping up onto the bed in a show of super skill. “You look really pretty. More than on most days.”

Pajama clad and ready for bed, her daughter sat at the top of the pile in her mother’s bed and watched her check herself in the mirror. She earned a smile and returned it.

“Thank you,” Kara nodded. “I just can’t find something I like.”

“The black one,” Alex offered, flopping on the bed as well. “You can’t go wrong in that dress. It suits you so well.”

“She’s seen that dress already,” she huffed, peeling off the latest reject.

A knock at the door made everyone pause and remain perfectly still. Kara wiggled and finally got her arms detached.

“I’ll get it!” Katie decided, hopping down with a flourish and a thump.

Before anyone could interrupt, she was in the other room, and Kara grew more frantic, which was oddly amusing to her sister.

“I’m going to go check on Katie. You pick out something and don’t worry too much. She’s going to love you in anything. Or nothing.”

“Alex!”

“I’m just saying. Stay out as late as you want.”

Before Kara could argue again, her sister disappeared toward the hall.

“Whale lady!” Katie sang, and made Kara smile as she surveyed her room once again. “My mommy is almost naked right now, so I’m here to let you in.”

“Wow, that is very nice of you,” Lena smiled.

She hadn’t expected to be met by such honesty, and she found it refreshing. She wasn’t even that thrown off by the nickname she’d somehow earned.

It was miraculous that Kara’s eyes could be duplicated. The little girl was cute, even Lena recognized that, but it was the eyes and the dimples that really were just miraculous to behold, distracting her from looking anywhere else for a moment as she entered.

“Hi. Kara’s just finishing getting ready,” a new adult offered as they entered the kitchen. Lena awkwardly smiled. “I’m Alex, her sister.”

“Lena,” she shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. Kara talks about you constantly,” Alex offered, moving into the living room and nudging her head for Lena to follow. “It’d be annoying if she wasn’t so sweet about it.”

“That’s good to know,” Lena nodded awkwardly.

She really couldn’t focus on whatever Kara’s sister was saying, not when a four year old was standing in front of her and staring intently. Lena couldn’t look away, and she didn’t know what to do, so she just sat there and let herself be scrutinized. Until she took a step forward, and then Lena shifted back.

“My mommy said dating can’t go in my book until I’m older. She said you are going on a date. I left a page open. Do you want to see?”

“Oh, yes, sure,” Lena nodded.

Carefully, Katie grabbed her personal notebook and brought it forward. She gingerly laid it in Lena’s lap for her to see up close.

“This is where Mommy is going to tell me what dating is,” she gestured to her blank page.

“What is this?”

“That’s a marshmallow. Did you know they come from trees kind of. Like the bottom roots sometimes.”

“I did not know that,” Lena grinned and flipped a page, enjoying the artwork and easy to understand words and diagrams. “What about this?”

“Ah-pat-o-saur-us,” Katie sounded it out slowly. “They used to eat plants and were very big. They are sometimes my favorite dinosaur.”

“That’s a good favorite dinosaur.”

“What’s yours.”

Lena didn’t notice that Katie was leaning against her slightly, not when she got to talk about dinosaurs to an interested party. It was really all she could ever want.

“I quite like the Ankylosaurus.”

“Which is that one?”

“Well, it kind of has a club on its tail that it would swing around.”

“You can draw it in my book,” Katie decided, looking around for a pen.

“Oh, no. I can’t draw.”

“She’s four. She won’t know,” Alex chuckled and offered. “Just make sure you spell out the word in small bits.”

Somehow, Lena saw herself doing it, and so she did. She tried to draw one and field questions from a four year old about dinosaurs, something she never considered. So into the drawing, actually, she found herself, that she didn’t even notice Kara appear and watch for a moment before making herself known.

“Oh, wow,” Lena gulped and stood quickly.

“Mommy looks like a princess,” Katie offered helpfully. Thank God for her, Lena thought, because she couldn’t have said it better herself.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I see you’ve been talking dinosaurs.”

“One of my favorite topics, actually,” Lena smiled and looked down at the book that now sat on a little children’s sized drawing table. “You do look like a princess, by the way.”

Kara blushed and was nearly the same color of the red dress she selected. She let her gaze linger on Lena as they shared this quiet moment together.

“Mommy, can we go to the museum and see more dinosaurs?” Katie interrupted. “Whale Lady said they had giant sharks.”

“Lena,” Kara corrected. “Remember, not Whale Lady.”

“Lena,” she repeated and waited for an answer.

“We’ll see. Be good for Aunt Alex,” her mother instructed. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay, love?”

Lena inched toward the door and watched the moment, now very aware of herself and how she didn’t know what to do or say suddenly.

“Can you tell Lena thank you for helping you learn more about dinosaurs?”

“Thank you Lena,” Katie offered, suddenly bashful and hiding behind her mother.

“You’re welcome.”

After a few more instructions and a few more kisses and hugs, Lena finally managed to make it to the hallway as Kara pulled the door shut behind them.

“Sorry about that. I know we said slow and there you are–”

“Kara, it’s fine. This is slow. I’m fine,” Lena cut off any apology. “She’s really smart. I love her book.”

“It’s fun until you have to draw six pictures per day of random objects.”

Kara paused at the elevator at the end of the hall and waited. She turned to Lena and kissed her on the cheek.

“Are you ready for our first date, Kara Danvers?” Lena blushed and tried to hide it, though she failed.

“Very.”


	4. China

_Beep_

“Ms. Luthor, your car is here.”

The voice from the intercom cut through the office, but did nothing to stop the two on the couch in the office at the top of the Luthor Building. The announcement earned a growl of complaint that soon turned into a purr.

For the past two months, the makeouts had been occurring with increased fervency and frequency. They were cropping up at very inopportune times, or rather, they were happening and there weren’t any inopportune times to continue or escalate them.

“Kara, darling,” Lena whispered as a hand slid up her side. Lips moved to her neck and her hips moved against a thigh, pushing her dress up dangerously higher on her own.

Nothing really deterred Kara though, and Lena was grateful for that. She wanted to stretch every minute as long as possible. They’d been doing this dance for the past few weeks, of leaving each other breathless and eager, and with no way to fix it. There were dinners, though Kara had a curfew, and when they couldn’t see each other, there were emails and phone calls until late at night.

It left other times for making out, which was something they excelled at, Lena realized when her intercom buzzed yet again.

Nothing stopped her from kissing Kara back though before they lost the breath and had to separate, eyes dilated and chests fighting for air. She was almost certain she’d run a few miles, or at least that what she sounded like. Her poor couch had now seen its fair share of pretty dirty make out sessions, and she had to put it out of its misery.

“I have to go,” Lena sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I should too,” Kara smiled, though neither moved. Instead, Kara kissed her back harder, taking her breath away one last time. “No, I really should.”

“You’ve turned me into a teenager, Danvers.”

With a sheepish smile, Kara leaned back and surveyed the mussed mess that was now the CEO of the largest tech company on the planet. She wanted to kiss her more, but knew that she wouldn’t stop if she started again.

“I’m going to have to start allocating more time for my lunches.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even let you finish telling me about your trip,” Kara shook her head and began to adjust her own clothe as Lena stood and fixed her dress. “I got kind of happy to see you.”

“Believe me, this was much better than regaling you with stories of meetings and dinners. For future reference, I’m not saying that being a teenager is a bad thing.”

“Still. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s almost like you like me,” she teased, adjusting her lipstick in a mirror.

Re-tucking her shirt in, Kara watched Lena fix herself, make herself presentable, all power and might and previously completely filthy on the couch. It made her mouth dry and it made her want to kiss her again, just to ruin the pretty red lipstick. Kara had dreams about that pretty red lipstick.

“I wanted to hear about your trip, too. I didn’t come over just to mess up your couch.”

“It doesn’t mind, and neither do I,” Lena promised. “But you could make it up to me with dinner maybe?”

_Beep._

_“Miss Luthor, I would cancel, but the lawyers always get so anxious.”_

The two shared a look and almost sighed in unison with the imposition of the real world. Kara watched Lena saunter toward her desk and press the button before telling her assistant that she was on her way.

“You look really pretty,” Kara offered. “I wanted to tell you that when I first came in, but I got distracted.”

“You’re the sweetest.”

“I’d love to take you to dinner. But it’s a school night. Unless you want to come over?”

“To your house?”

“Yes.”

Nervously, Kara was started, and it took her brain a second to catch up to her mouth and what she’d just said. It’d be a big step, for Lena to come over, or for Lena to spend an extended amount of time in the same place as her daughter, even if it was after bedtime.

“Are you sure?” Lena waited, feeling out the invitation.

“Yes, of course. Yeah, I want to see you, and we’re doing this slowly, so it should be fine, right?” she convinced herself. “Katie will be asleep the whole time, so you don’t have to look so scared.”

“Me? No. I’m not scared,” she shook her head. “I’m very cool with it all.”

“Cool with it, huh?” Kara cocked an eyebrow and smiled slightly.

“I am, thank you,” Lena challenged, hand on her hip. “And I would love to because I will take any time I can get to see you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Tickled at the thought of it and still oddly wound up from the session on the couch, Kara moved toward Lena and let arms be wrapped around her neck. Lena always smelled so good, and she always felt so good. It was becoming a problem.

“Come over around eight?” Kara grinned.

She earned a kiss and another buzzing of the speaker and another growl.

“It’s a date.”

* * *

It was a complete and total lie, Lena realized as she stood outside of Kara’s apartment and tried to work up some courage to actually knock. Halfway through her two o’clock meeting, the CEO found herself struck by the notion of going to Kara’s and having dinner there. She reminded herself that Lena had a kid and they were going slow. She remembered that she was falling madly in love with a mom.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget, and Lena didn’t get too in her head about what it all meant. Sometimes, they just necked on a couch or had dinner and smiled at each other and talked about things that they didn’t want to tell anyone else. Kara was sweet and kind and funny and oddly innocent and her kisses left Lena reeling. She was someone that anyone would fall in love with, and so she couldn’t ignore it.

That was how she ended up at the door, nervously wringing her hands and trying to muster some courage.

“Nǐ hǎo,” a little voice answered the door, earning a smile from the CEO.

“Wǎnshang hǎo,” Lena nodded with a slight bow. “That’s very impressive.”

“My mom said you went to China and they speak different languages there,” she explained, quite seriously. “I added more pages to my book. Do you want to see?”

“I would love to!”

Even though she was nervous and talked herself out of seeing Kara’s daughter, Lena used the same philosophy she’d used for every part of her business meetings and empire building– absolutely faking confidence.

“Hey, Lena, I’m sorry,” Kara greeted her from the kitchen as she closed the door behind her. “I was just finishing up and I lost track of time. Can you believe China took a lot of googling?”

“I can imagine.”

“Mommy said you get to go all over the place for your work,” Katie interrupted, not bothered at all that she was awake still. “Where else do you go?”

“Oh, well, I go pretty much everywhere at some point. A few weeks ago I was in Japan, and then before that, Berlin, Peru, Egypt, Australia–”

“Wow,” she whispered, wide eyed as the list continued. “Can you show me on the map?”

“You have a map?” Lena asked as pages were flipped in the notebook.

Sure enough, a printed map of the world was glued and haphazardly colored across two pages, with a little star marking where they currently lived, and another with Lena’s last trip. She took a seat on the couch, already forgetting Kara’s work in the kitchen. So quickly the little girl was able to take and keep her attention without her even noticing it. If she had, she might have caught Kara’s look and softness, or she might have even realized how good she was at having it. But instead, she marvelled at the map.

“One day, I’ll be able to go to all of the places,” Katie explained. “The earth is full of lots of different people. Where is your favorite place?”

“Well, you already have it on your map,” Lena explained, pointing to National City. “There’s no place like home.”

“But where else?”

“I liked every place for different reasons. Each one has a special moment in it. Which reminds me,” she recalled before moving to grab her bag from the chair. “I hope your mom isn’t too mad, but I saw this and thought you might like something. It’s a good thing you’re up past bedtime.”

“You brought me a thing?” the little girl asked, her excitement growing.

Blonde hair, slicked back from the bath, fuzzy princess pyjamas firmly in place, smile full of baby teeth, and bright blue eyes shined at Lena eagerly, too excited by the prospect of the world and the present and everything else.

“I did bring you a thing. I’m not usually someone go buys things at gift shops, but I had some time, and I used to like them.”

With a big tug, Lena pulled the ill-wrapped present from her bag and presented it to the little girl who held it tenderly. It seemed so much bigger than it actually was when it was in tiny hands. It was at that moment, that Lena got a little nervous, because she’d never actually given a child a gift.

“What is it?”

“It’s a snow globe,” Lena explained as Katie stared and shook and smiled. “Inside is some of the things I saw when I was there.”

“Wow,” the little girl whispered, staring intently inside, memorizing every detail from every angle. “Mommy! Look what I got!”

Superspeed and she was already in the kitchen, eagerly showing her new toy. Before Lena could even turn around, she was back on the couch.

“I love it so much. Thank you, Lena.”

“You are very–”

Tiny arms tossed themselves around her neck before she could finish, but Lena tried anyway. FOr a moment, a little body stood on the couch and hugged her, wiggling with excitement. Lena didn’t know what to do with the excitement or the feeling of being thanked by a little girl, and so she just sat there and took it.

“Well now I’m jealous. I didn’t even get anything,” Kara pretended to sulk as she made her way around the kitchen toward the living room. “Lena must like you then.”

“I can share you mine if you want,” Katie offered, smiling happily as she shook up the snow globe, making it snow over the Great Wall.

“I have something I will give you later,” Lena promised, giving her girlfriend a little wink, earning a blush.

“See, Mommy? Lena likes you too.”

“Thank goodness. Now what do you say?”

“Thank you so much, Lena. I am very happy you are back in your favorite place. Mom is too. She is more happy now then yesterday when you were not here.”

“Okay, enough of that,” Kara piped up as she earned a cocky glance from Lena. “I let you stay up too late. Let’s go. Time for bed.”

“But it’s dinner,” Katie argued, looking frantically for reasons.

“For adults. You’ve already eaten and had a bath. Say goodnight to Lena.”

“But or I could stay up and be quiet for a little bit longer?” she countered.

“Try again.”

There was a battle of wills happening, though Lena wasn’t sure how to win it. Instead, she just watched it all happen until one side cracked.

“Goodnight, Lena. Thank you for my present. I am going to put it beside my bed,” she informed the CEO. “Is that okay, Mommy?”

“That sounds great.”

Lena got another hug and thought she was having a dream.

“You are very welcome,” Lena patted the little girl’s back.

“I’ll be right back. Please help yourself to some wine while I put this one to bed,” Kara whispered, finally leaning down to kiss Lena’s cheek as her daughter climbed around the couch toward her room.

“Take your time.”

“You’re spectacular, did you know that?”

“Nope, but please don’t stop saying such cute things.”

With another kiss, Kara pulled herself away and kissed Lena before retreating towards the little girl’s bedroom. Still not quite believing what happened or how well it went, or how weird she’d felt giving out a gift, Lena made a beeline for the wine and poured herself a glass while she listened to Kara read some silly story about a goose.

* * *

As weird as Lena still felt, and as hard as she was trying to avoid that feeling, there was a certain sense of relief that came as she washed a few dishes after dinner, and Kara appeared after checking on Katie to tell her that she was out like a light.

“You didn’t have to get her something, you know,” Kara offered as she took a seat and watched Lena dry her hands.

“My dad used to bring me something every time he went on a trip. I never thought of it until I saw that,” she shrugged and topped of their wine. “Do you think she liked it?”

“She loved it. But I’m sorry she was awake. I just got kind of set back and I didn’t realize the time.”

“This was just slow enough,” Lena promised, joining her on the couch. “I like you. I want to get to know you, and that means getting to know Katie.”

“You’re spectacular, you know that?”

“I’ve been told this already today,” she grinned and sipped her wine. “Thank you for dinner.”

“Thanks for just… for being you…” Kara managed, unable to say much else. “I never really got to date or experience anything like this. You’ve been the best. And I just. I like you a lot.”

“We’re figuring this out. Lots of baggage between us, but not so bad so far, right?”

“Nope.”

Kara gulped slightly as Lena sat down her glass and moved toward her.

“Should we pick up where we left off this afternoon?”

There was a bit of a spark in her eyes. The warmth of the wine mixed with the feeling of climbing into Kara’s lap made her feel at ease.

“She should,” the former hero nodded eagerly.

“And um, the littlest set of ears won’t hear?”

“She sleeps like a bear in winter,” Kara explained, finally kissing Lena as she’d wanted to for the entire night. “Her room is soundproof.”

“Did you plan on this then?”

“No! She just couldn’t sleep–”

“I’m kidding, Kara. I knew what coming over meant. Or at least I hoped.”

“Hoped, huh?” she grinned, hands moving toward her neck and hair, holding her there as a body pressed into her.

“Keep kissing my neck and pulling up my dress on the couch, and I’ll die of hoping.”

It was right there, with Lena straddling her on the couch, tasting like wine and everything distinctly her, looking down on her with such happiness and excitement, that Kara felt her breath physically knocked out of her lungs. She held onto Lena’s hips and she kissed her sternly before carrying her to the bedroom.

* * *

“Mmmm,” the spine reverberated with the satisfied hum.

Fingertips moved along the protrusions of bone beneath pale skin as shoulders and ribs expanded with a contented sigh. The bed smelled of two people now, different than it’d been before, but Kara didn’t mind at all. In fact, she very much appreciated it.

She kissed Lena’s shoulder and back once again before letting her arm wind around her hips. Kara found herself burrowing into the loose black hair that covered the pillow.

“That was perfect,” Kara whispered, pushing close, as close as she could get. “All of it.”

“I agree. I quite liked that.”

“Is that what you hoped for?”

“I didn’t even know to hope for some of that,” Lena chuckled and turned over, settling her leg over Kara’s hip and smiling in the low light of the city outside. “Not only is your mouth very pretty and distracting, it is incredibly talented.”

“I’m thinking of having it insured like famous soccer players get their legs.”

“I’d help cover it.”

Kara just smiled and shook her head before pushing hair from Lena’s face. She let her hand drift along her cheeks and chin, settling there. She was very smitten with the girl in her bed, and she couldn’t help it, not that she’d want to at all.

With a yawn, Lena knit her eyes shut and burrowed into the pillows slightly.

“I should get going.”

“The bed’em and leave’em type?”

“I think you did the bedding,” Lena corrected, earning a cocky smile. “Plus, I have to keep you wanting more, so you won’t get sick of me.”

“I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I always want more.”

“See? It works.”

With a sweet kiss, Lena pulled herself from the warmth and the embrace as she began to scan for her clothes on the floor. Kara sat up and watched her move, watched her slip back on the clothes that made her Lena Luthor. Hair a mess, lips puffy, tiny bruises on her chest, she was still so beautiful, caught between being two different people.

“Was tonight too much?” Kara worried as Lena slipped on her bra.

“Tonight was perfect.”

“Katie likes you.”

“She learned how to greet me in Chinese. That was pretty cool. She’s a smart kid. You should be very proud.”

“I am. I’m also very surprised by you,” Kara realized as she accepted the shirt Lena tossed her and began to slip it over her head. “You might actually really like my daughter.”

“I never said I didn’t like her. I’m more worried about the opposite. I’ve never been around kids.”

“You’re a natural then.”

“You’re just saying that,” Lena shook her head and smiled as Kara slipped on pants and stood before her.

“I mean it,” she promised. “You’re too hard on yourself.”

“That’s the Luthor way.”

With a smile, Kara wrapped her arms around Lena once again, uneager to let her go or leave. She knew they had to, and she knew that it would be a long while before they felt comfortable waking up together, however that was all that she desired more than anything at the current moment. She would settle for these little victories of the night though, and how Lena looked sneaking out after midnight.

“Thanks for cooking me dinner. Can I return the favor sometime?”

“Maybe next week?”

“Sounds perfect. I’m not too busy,” Lena earned another kiss. “Just some tech conference for digital advancements.”

“Maybe you’ll run into someone you know.”

“That wouldn’t be the worst way to spend one of those. You know how Jess worries about me at those kinds of things.”

With a smile and complete amazement, Kara hugged Lena to her. Lena softened, relaxing into the hug, still quite new to feeling such things as physical intimacy in the most honest form. But it was quickly becoming something she wanted more than anything else. Kara ruined her quite completely.

“Just a few more seconds before we have to go back to the real world,” Kara mumbled, inhaling Lena’s shoulder.

“Yeah, just a few,” Lena nodded, gripping back at her just as tightly.


	5. Exhausted

“New start, Jess,” Lena nodded, mostly to herself, as she dug through her purse and checked her lipstick. “New start. New company, sort of. New life. New home. New office. New city. New us.”

The car finally stopped as Lena finished fixing her makeup. She wasn’t particularly interested in the meaning, but her reminder was for herself. She wanted to start over after everything in Metropolis, after her family, after all of it. She meant it. The past few years did a number on her, and now she was starting fresh, becoming who she wanted to be. It was that simple. Sometimes that meant listening to Jess and shutting up, despite the fact that she wanted to go home and tinker with that old electronic she got from bidding too much in an online auction.

Lena took a minute, despite the stopping, despite the readiness. Her aversion to public events stemmed from a lifetime of terrible parties and an overbearing mother. Her aversion to meeting anyone came from her mistrust of everyone after her father and brother’s betrayals. But she did meet someone, and she was not averse to that. Though it seemed like that was just because of who the person was– no one was averse to the absolute angel that was Kara Danvers.

 

“Five minutes,” Jess offered, hoping to relieve some of the tension her boss sought to bury deep, deep down beneath a cool and collected demeanor. She was always so cool, always so aloof. But if anyone really looked, if anyone knew her, they’d know the truth. Jess knew. Jess spent the past week listening to Lena’ moon over a certain reporter, and to a certain degree, said reporter’s daughter. There was nothing aloof about how she clearly felt, and couldn’t quite articulate just yet. 

“Take the night off. I’ll play well with others.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jess offered, handing her boss her phone again, this time fully updated with proper contact information and scheduling. The assistant ran a tight ship, and she wasn’t about to let a little thing like the CEO keep her from a properly placed schedule.

“Take the weekend,” Lena corrected. “Nothing pressing. Work from home, and I’ll find something to keep busy.”

All it took was Jess to cock her eyebrow before Lena huffed and pursed her lips.

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I know,” the secretary nodded. “But you can’t stay away from work for that long.”

“I have plans.”

“None were scheduled.”

“I meant to ask you to add ‘Get Laid Because My Girlfriend’s Kid is Going on a Sleepover’ on Saturday at about seven,” Lena sassed. “But that felt a little wordy.”

“I’ll add it,” she promised, typing away at her tiny keyboard quite seriously. Two could play at many of the games that Lena Luthor enjoyed, and Jess had become quite adept at matching wits with her.

“Remind me again why I keep you around?” the boss sighed with a rueful smile.

“What party are you going to?” There was silence. “I rest my case.”

Lena smiled and looked out onto the crowd and the night and the lights and the party, very disinterested in any of it. But she was fixing her company, and she was revamping the image. If it included things like stupid parties, than that was what she did. It was her part; her price to pay.

“Jess, do you think I’m being silly for dating someone with a kid?” Lena asked, quite serious and out of character for the moment. But she turned toward her friend and braced herself for the honest answer that she feared.

To her credit, Jess put down her phone and looked at her employer, and her friend, and she weighed the answers and what she’d learned and heard about Kara and Katie. To hear her boss so unsure was a bit of a mystery to be certain.

“No.”

Lena nodded and waited for a quick rebuttal, though the universe offered nothing.

“I’ll see you Monday,” the CEO decided as she pushed open the car door, smile firmly in place and ready for the mobs and flashes of cameras.

“Hey, Lena,” Jess offered a second later after their good night. “It’s not silly.”

“Thank you.”

They exchanged a genuine smile and a kind of solidarity that can only be cultivated in pairs like those who survived war, or better yet, siblings.

“Go have fun.”

“You too.”

The car door closed quickly before Jess could offer any other sage words of advice or vision. That didn’t stop her from watching her boss walk down the carpet and assume the smile she always did.

* * *

The room was set the same as it always was, and Kara finished speaking with the mayor just as a beautiful woman caught her eye. She smiled and tried to concentrate, though that proved more difficult than expected when Lena grinned and shot her a wink from across the room.

There was just something about her that was… that was… it was just mesmerizing. Her heart did a little patter as she watched Lena over the mayor’s shoulder. And all she did was speak with a familiar face, her hands moving slightly as she became more animated. That was enough, and Kara was smitten all over again.

It was foreign and weird, to feel such a way. Kara hadn’t allowed herself to do that in a long, long time. But Lena snuck in, and she just stuck.

But things had been going so well, that she wasn’t sure what it meant to be stuck with a Luthor. They vaguely knew that the other was going to be at the event, and yet they didn’t go together. Kara wasn’t even sure if she knew how to unpack it.

“I’m sorry, did I lose you?” the mayor asked quizzically.

“What? No, I’m sorry,” Kara managed, adjusting her glasses and returning to the items at hand. “You were mentioning the green initiative, and how it will add more jobs?”

Just like that, the mayor was back on track, and Kara didn’t have to pretend to focus. She just got better at hiding how she watched Lena make her way around the room. But she was stuck in work mode, and nothing else mattered.

Except Lena had that dress on, the one that dipped low on her back, and Kara loved her back. And except that Lena had those heels on, and her ass looked amazing, and Kara loved her ass. And except that Lena had this grin when she bit her straw and spoke with some guy that Kara hated on principle, because Kara loved her teeth.

But Kara shook her head and focused because she had a job to do, and she got her quotes and asked her questions. Even when she finished, she mingled and followed up on a bit more information. It was hard, still, but it helped to lose Lena in the crowds.

“Vod–” Kara started to order her drink from the bar.

“Vodka soda, extra lemon twist,” a smooth voice finished for her.

“I thought you might have left for the night. It has been longer than five minutes.”

All in her glory and charm, Lena smiled over her shoulder, cheeky and all, toward the girl who got her a bridge snow globe for Christmas. Kara was a goner.

“I was waiting for you in the back corner with snacks, but you took too long, and I needed a refill.”

“That was my next stop,” Kara promised, accepting her drink. “Thank you.”

“Do you have a babysitter tonight?”

The eyes. Lena had those eyes that said, hey, let’s get out of here. And Kara loved that. She very much liked that.

“Alex.”

“How late?”

“All night.”

Lena nodded and thanked the bartender for her next drink.

“Would it look suspicious if we left together to go to my place?” she asked, licking the straw and placing it back in her glass.

Kara gulped and adjusted her glasses.

“I have to leave early in the morning, but I suspect that it can be okay if we stagger it?”

“Are you ashamed to leave with me, Ms. Danvers?”

“Not at all. I just don’t want you to think you have to make a show of it. I’m okay with sneaking.”

For a second, Lena understood and appreciated Kara’s candor. Of course, that dropped off into indignation quite quickly. She set her glass down with a sharp snap against the wood of the bar.

“Do you want to walk out of here with me?” Lena finally asked.

“I don’t care. I’m okay with slow.”

“I should have asked you as my date.”

“I would have declined,” Kara shrugged and sipped her drink. “I’m here for work.”

“You’re my girlfriend. We do things together. They’ll find out sooner or later.”

“We don’t have to rush.”

“Do you want to leave with me?” she tried again.

For a second, Kara thought it over and watched Lena set her brow and wait impatiently. There was only one answer,and she knew it.

“I do have to leave your place early tomorrow,” the reporter sighed. “I have plans tomorrow.”

“You can leave when you want.”

With a smile and a shake of her head, Kara finished her drink and set her glass down before leaning a little closer.

“Now that the rules are settled,” she grinned. “Take me home, Ms. Luthor.”

* * *

The news spread quickly. It was a fire and it was out of control. The pictures of the couple leaving the party were analyzed and scrutinized across all manner of social media and then television. It was only a matter of time before Kara was discovered, and her identity revealed. It was only a matter of time before everyone debated and discussed everything about the relationship, despite only have a few pictures of two people leaving together.

For a few days, the same three images were everywhere, but the official comment was no comment, and thus Lena attempted to continue her days as normally as possible. Unfortunately, that meant somewhat avoiding Kara while she attempted to figure it all out.

She made it until Tuesday before growing annoyed.

“Jess, I’m taking a lun–”

“Hi,” Kara smiled from her spot in front of the secretary’s desk.

“Hi,” Lena cocked her head and relaxed. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood and just wanted to see if you would like to talk.”

“I can talk. I can talk, right, Jess?” she asked, still smiling and nodding, too eager and too happy and too relieved to see the reporter.

“Barely,” her secretary surmised, watching the volley and unending eye contact between the two. Regardless of what was happening, she somehow knew that it meant her boss would be in a better mood in about an hour.

The two still stood there, smiling at each other.

“Why don’t you go in, and I’ll order something for you,” Jess offered.

“Yes, okay, that sounds perfect,” Lena nodded before tearing herself away from Kara when she got an agreement. “Hold my calls.”

Even after the door closed, Jess stared at it, rolling her eyes a second later before she decided to order lunch.

* * *

Kara had been in Lena’s office before. She went there for lunches sometimes. She’d stopped by for quotes that sometimes meant they’d kiss a lot and waste a little bit of time catching up. But she hadn’t really spoken with Lena in a few days, and now her picture was on gossip websites, and things felt different.

The office felt different, felt familiar to her, and Kara wasn’t so opposed to that, though she was simply afraid of it all.

“I’m sorry about those pictures. I knew what it meant when we left together. I just forgot that you might–”

“I knew what I was getting into,” Kara interjected quickly, stopping the apology and making Lena pause her movements of fiddling with her own fingers. “I had to adjust a bit, but I knew, I think. Didn’t expect it to be so instantaneous, but that’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“I’m ready for this,” she motioned between them. “Whatever we’re doing. I’m ready for it. If you are too, of course.”

“Yeah, no, yes. Definitely. I am. Very. Well, mostly. I’m ready. I’m getting there, I mean, the whole kid thing, I still want to take that sl–”

Before she could finish rambling toward some sort of coherence, Lena was cut off by a happy, smiling, overjoyed Kara kissing her quickly through the words.

“Just, stop talking,” Kara grinned, finally pulling away.

She didn’t realize or even really know how her hands got to be grabbing and hold Lena’s neck and side. She didn’t remember Lena’s arms wrapping around her neck, but somehow they were wrapped up in each other and smiling and hadn’t really said anything. In fact, they’d almost decided that not talking was more effective.

It was all semantics.

“Let’s not freak each other out anymore. I’m very sick of it,” Lena sighed. “You don’t have anymore kids, do you?”

“Nope.”

“No more alien partners or ex-yeti best friends or beautiful and talented ex’s for that matter?”

“Nope, nope, and nope.”

“Alright, good,” she grinned again, relaxing in Kara’s arms, as the grip slacked slightly, relaxing with how well the conversation or lack thereof had gone.

“I also wanted to give you this,” Kara decided as she dug in her pocket and pulled out an invitation.

Lena took it and scanned the aqua-themed invitation with cartoon font.

“Katie’s throwing a party?”

“It’s short notice, I know. But I realized I never formally invited you. But after the pictures, I just… we’re doing this.”

Fondly, Lena stared at the card.

“We are?” she asked, quietly.

“You have to deal with Katie,” Kara shrugged and itched her neck nervously. “I have to deal with your knack for being on magazine covers.”

“I don’t know what kind of trade that is.”

“You’re getting the better end of it, trust me.”

“What do you get a five year old?” Lena wondered aloud.

“What did you play with when you were five?”

“Books,” she shrugged. “Is this a formal dinner? What should I wear? There’s no information on this card.”

“We’re going to the aquarium with about a dozen five year olds,” Kara furrowed in an attempt to keep from laughing. “You dress comfortably and eat pizza.”

It was right there, as Lena stared at the card and made an odd face, confused about it all, that Kara fell very hard for her. In many ways, she felt infinitely more human than the person in the relationship who lived on the planet for her entire life. Lena Luthor was an odd duck, and that suited Kara just fine.

“I’ve never been to the aquarium,” Lena finally muttered, looking up from the invitation. “I bought them an octopus though. Do you think they’ll let us see it?”

“It’s like I’m dating this weird CEO five-year old hybrid,” Kara shook her head. “Yes, darling. I’m sure we can play with the octopus.”

With a sarcastic laugh, Lena rolled her eyes and decided to reach out to the aquarium in the morning. No sense buying an octopus if it didn’t mean they could have some behind-the-scenes access. She could always buy them a matching squid or something.

But while she plotted, she sat down on her couch beside her… her girlfriend? And she smiled at the thought. Kara let out a contented sigh and relaxed, leaning close to Lena’s shoulder as she began tapping on her tablet to see all that a five year old could possibly want for a birthday present.

“The limit is twenty dollars.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the CEO snorted immediately, almost scoffing at the ridiculousness of such a number. “I won’t spoil her, but I’m not just getting her a barbie.”

“She only really likes two Barbies, but that’s not the point–”

“I will not go overboard,” Lena promised. Kara sized her up and chose to believe her. “But I will get her at least a few things. Books. Lots of books.”

“It’s exhausting dating you.”

“We’re just getting started,” she smiled while Kara tossed her head back in defeat.


	6. Aquarium

There was a moment of hesitation.

If she were being honest, the moment lasted for about fifteen. But Lena sat in the back of her car while the driver waited for her to make up her mind, right there near the aquarium. The large, turquoise building stuck out amidst an entire block of wharf-themed shops and restaurants, while across from it, the dock stretched out into the lake.

It wasn’t s place she expected to go, nor did she spend any time at all in that part of the city. It was a place for kids, for families, where colleagues took sunny days to ride rides on the boardwalk and eat overpriced, kitschy seafood while hauling around children who smelled like suntan lotion and complained about everything.

But Lena had an invitation to a little girl’s birthday party, and she wanted to go. Her worry wasn’t so much about the neighborhood, despite how much she really did despise the absolute gaudiness of the street. She’d spent time with Kate. Occasionally. She’d seen her. Sometimes. From time to time, Lena was in the same room as Kara’s daughter.

“I bought an octopus,” Lena muttered to herself as she nodded to herself and pushed open the door, emerging into the bright afternoon sunlight.

With a decided adjustment, straightening the simple sweater she decided to wear, tossing her purse on her shoulder, Lena picked up the perfectly curled and ribboned pink bag of things for the birthday girl and strutted across the street, her heels clicking neatly behind her.

It wasn’t pure unadulterated chaos, as she’d anticipated. Inside the aquarium, there was a mellow, blue tint to everything so that it felt as if they were underwater, the sound of running water somewhere, just beneath the surface of the entire facility.

The eyes of the staff followed her across the lobby, the pristinely manicured woman and the gift bag overflowing with sparkles and glitter paper. There wasn’t anything left to think about; Lena was committing, come hell or high water, or whatever the equivalent would be for her. She honestly wasn’t quite sure anymore.

Amidst a platoon of children, Kara stood tall. Everyone wore a birthday hat, the same pointed ones that Lena remembered being insanely envious of, the ones her mother called tacky and refused to buy for her own parties. The sight alone was enough to put a smile on her face and ease the nerves.

“Hey! You made it,” Kara smiled, breathless and warm, all sunshine and ease. Lena felt herself relax as she earned a quick kiss on her cheek. “You look great.”

“Of course I made it. I was promised cake and lots of sharks.”

“You’re an easy date.”

“That’s true.”

Before Lena could continue with the flirting, a small set of arms found her hips and she flinched at the feeling before looking down to find the star of the party, smiling up at her, baby teeth all on display and dimples firmly in place.

“Happy Birthday, Katie,” Lena smiled and accepted her hug.

“I’m so ‘cited you are here!” she cheered, not dropping her hands, but rather looking up with familiar blue eyes.

“I’ve been looking forward to it all week. I told everyone I was coming to the best birthday party of the year.”

“No way!”

“Yes way,” she promised. “Told everyone. Told the King of Sweden and the President and my driver and my friend, Jess. They were all very jealous.”

“That’s lots of people.”

“Yeah it is.”

“Go round up your friends,” Kara interrupted. “We’ll start our tour soon.”

“Is Lena coming?”

“I don’t know,” her mother feigned. “She’s not wearing a birthday hat.”

“I’ll get her one!” Katie yelped, detaching herself to rectify the situation.

“That’s not necessary,” Lena tried.

“It’s not a party without a hat. And I have a bet with Alex that I couldn’t get you to wear one.”

“She’s smart.”

“But I have a secret weapon.”

Right on time, Katie reappeared, happily holding out a bright purple cone-shaped hat for Lena, all expectant and eager and hopeful and joyful. Lena looked at her girlfriend before looking back at the little girl and realized right there, in the lobby of the National City Aquarium, that she wasn’t sure if she’d ever make a proper decision for herself or utter the word ‘no’ ever again.

“Thank you,” she smiled, accepting it.

“And now we’re ready,” Kara grinned, adjusting it for her, earning a less than amused glance.

She didn’t care. She kissed Lena’s pretend scowl anyway.

Just like that, she was in it, and Lena still wasn’t sure how. The math didn’t add up completely, but for just an afternoon, she was going to try not to question it.

* * *

There was an octopus. A real champ of an octopus, in Lena’s humble opinion. Katie agreed, wholeheartedly, pressing her face against the glass and watching him move along the tank. Lena and Kara watched the handful of kids as they moved through the aquarium with the help of the guide, everyone having a great time. Lena included.

There was cake. A cake so full of just plain sugar, that Lena wasn’t sure she’d ever had something like it, though the frosting was particularly addicting. She only took a bite after taking pictures on her phone and realizing she was doing it. It felt particularly normal and mundane, though not bad at all. She was simply someone who ate sugar cake and took pictures of adorable five year olds with their faces painted like sharks.

There were gifts and laughter and loud, loud, sugar-hyped children that they set loose upon the jungle gym and finally took a breath.

“Thank you for coming,” Kara finally managed as she took a sip from her glass and caught a moment to look at Lena.

Gone was the stern motherly figure throwing a party for her daughter, gone was the frantic, goodness that was Kara with Katie. Instead, in the relative peace of the patio beside the herd of wild children, Kara was bashfully herself and smitten.

“I wouldn’t miss it. I think I like the aquarium.”

“It agrees with you.”

In the maze of tubes and nets and things to climb and jump through, they watched the kids from a distance, enjoying the amazement on their faces, enjoying the way they laughed.

“They have so much energy,” Lena finally sighed, her muscles finally relaxing for the first time in hours. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“It’s a little easier when there’s just one of them.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“She likes you, you know,” Kara promised, tilting her head and sneaking a glance at her girlfriend. She earned a disbelieving scoff and roll of pretty green eyes. “I mean it. You think it’s much harder to get a kid to like you, but they have these little sensors in them where they size you up much quicker than adults.”

“I like her. She’s kind of really cool. I was afraid kids would annoy me– don’t laugh,” Lena furrowed at Kara’s chuckle. “I’m being serious. Children require attention and time and for you to know about cartoons and candy. I don’t know any of that stuff.”

“And yet she still likes you. It’s almost like none of that matters.”

“You’re not nice for teasing me, you know that, right?”

“It’s so easy though!” Kara grinned.

“Only for you.”

Lena stuck out her tongue and earned a smile while they fell into a nice rhythm. The party was winding down and they waited on parents to pick up the remaining group. Lena didn’t miss her phone or her responsibilities one bit. Nothing could touch her when she was away from it all, not like any other normal Saturday afternoon.

And when Katie got tired and crawled to Lena’s lap, she smiled to herself and took a second to relax. But she did. And she was rewarded with a little girl telling her about her day and how wonderful it had been and her favorite fish in the aquarium.

Neither noticed Kara watching them as she said goodbye to the parent of a kid in her daughter’s class. Neither one of them cared at all or performed in anyway. They were instead, just a natural phenomena.

“So it was a good day then?” Lena smiled and watched the little girl’s brain work as she colored a page of sharks.

“Best day ever.”

* * *

Kara’s apartment was a home. There were finger painted portraits and report cards on the fridge, which itself was composed of things like juice boxes and ice cream treats. The couch was soft and comfortable, with fluffy pillows and two, count them, two throw blankets. It wasn’t dirty, but it was messy in that lived in way that a house with lots of activity just always had something not quite in the right place.

Lena liked Kara’s apartment. Her’s was practically a hotel room with its lack of personal items and flare for not betraying anything about the occupant.

The best part of it was, that Lena was learning Kara’s place. She knew where glasses were, she knew what it felt like to cuddle on the couch, and she knew what it smelled like most of the time. It was a good place.

“Okay, she’s completely out,” Kara sighed as she gently closed her daughter’s bedroom and made her way back toward the kitchen. “Mmm that’s a brilliant idea.”

“I figured you could use something to relax with,” Lena smiled and handed her girlfriend a glass of wine before picking up her own. “A kids party is a lot of work. I never knew.”

“All that matters is Katie has a good time. She’ll remember it forever. I still remember my birthdays on Krypton.”

“I suppose I remember mine too, though probably for different reasons. Tell me about Krypton?”

Lena followed Kara around the couch and sat, tucking her legs under her while her girlfriend sprawled out in that long, exhausted way she did, allowing her muscles a chance to relax and to take up space, as often she didn’t like to do that. A warm hand slid along Lena’s thigh absently.

“We had anniversaries,” she smiled and closed her eyes, tilting her head back. “And my mother would wake me up with a special sweet roll. It was almost like an orange and peach, but not quite. And we would do something special, whatever I wanted usually.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“It really was.”

“And now you do that for Katie?”

“Yeah,” Kara smiled, lulling her head toward her girlfriend. “She deserves it. If she can’t have two parents, she’s going to have one do the work of both.”

Lena watched fingers rub her knee and she sipped her wine until the warmth spread along her chest. Without thinking of much more, she leaned forward and kissed her softly. Lips along lips, she dragged it out as long as she could.

“What’s that for?”

“Just being you.”

“Well, I reckon I deserve a few more then.”

With a glance at Lena’s lips, Kara swallowed and hoped that it was convincing enough. The tightness in her cheeks that went with her smile faded slightly as Lena leaned away to put down her wine glass, and then reach back to take her own. The smile stayed long gone when Lena slid into Kara’s lap, straddling her precisely and placing her hands on her shoulders.

“You are an insanely good mom,” Lena promised as hands moved to her hips. “And you are a good, good person.”

“Thanks for coming today. It meant a lot ot Katie.”

“Just to Katie?”

“Me too.”

“Me too,” Lena nodded.

Fingers played at the base of her neck while a thumb moved along the edge of her jaw, and for a moment, Kara just closed her eyes and let Lena hold her head up. She didn’t do anything else, just held her breath for a second and disappeared. Before she could open her eyes again, lips found her own again, and she wasn’t against it. Languid, forceful and languid and hiding words neither could guess at, Lena kissed Kara as good as she could. She wanted it to be The Kiss.

The Kiss, so aptly capitalized, because it was The One. It was the kiss that changed things. It wasn’t a kiss to do anything other than express a certain level of fondness. It was a kiss that she wasn’t sure she knew how to do, but Lena didn’t care. She put everything she could into it. She was purposeful and honest.

Lena tasted Kara’s tongue, she felt it, she felt herself hold tighter to her shoulders until her hands slid lower, to her side, to her rib. She did what she could to keep it innocent, and then she had lips on her neck and all matter of innocent went out the door.

“We should… you have an entire bedroom,” Lena whispered.

“I can’t wait,” Kara smirked, pulling at Lena’s shirt.

“But there’s–”

There wasn’t another word to say. Not with Kara’s lips and not with her hands everywhere. Lena let out a moan against her girlfriend’s neck. Her pants were undone in record time and she sat up enough for fingers to inch into them.

And then the door thwapped.

“Who is at your door?” Lena huffed, groaning at the loss of contact.

“Probably Alex. She’ll go away.”

Kara leaned forward again, much more eagerly this time. Again, she was interrupted and let out a growl of complaint.

“Don’t move.”

Before she could argue, Lena felt herself placed on the couch and her girlfriend zip over to the door.

“Alex, now is not a good ti–”

“Not quite the welcome I would expect,” a voice interrupted her. “I know I’m a little late, but I didn’t want to miss another birthday.”

Lena tilted her head back and looked over the back of the couch toward the door. She didn’t see who was there, just smiled at Kara who snapped her head in her direction.

“I’m not… Lena, I don’t—”

“Is Kat asleep?”

A man entered the apartment a second later, and Lena quickly snatched a blanket, covering herself up and hating the fact that her pants were unbuttoned and precarious at best.

“I’m sorry to interrupt.”

Lena looked at Kara for some kind of help, but all she got was a sheepish kind of nerves.

“Lena, this is Mon-el.”

“Crowned prince of Daxam,” he smiled, tucking his hands behind his back and bowing slightly. “Father to Kat.”

“Oh.”


	7. Daddy

“You can’t just show up here.”

“It’s my daughter’s birthday. You said I could see her.”

“It’s been over a year! You don’t get to do this.”

“Maybe this is a talk for the morning,” Lena cautioned.

Two sets of eyes snapped to the third person in the room, and Lena was immediately aware that she was without a shirt and her pants undone. But she was still Lena Luthor, and despite it, she stood there with her hands on her hips before crossing them in front of her chest. She was no stranger to domestic disputes. Hell, she even considered herself good at weathering them, as sad as that sounded.

She could see Kara’s nerves and anger simmering just beneath her cheeks and collarbone. Red slid up her neck and into her cheeks. Her lips were still swollen from the kissing. Her shirt was still shifted and crooked from being tugged. But beneath the fluster, there was this worry and a new kind of fear that Lena had never seen before.

“Turn around!” Kara yelped when she realized the Prince of Daxam was staring with a large grin on his face. “Don’t look at her!”

“Easy, easy,” he held up his hands in defeat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect to find you in such a compromising situation.”

“It’s not compromising. This is my girlfriend. And unlike her father, she made it to Kat’s birthday.”

A flash of hurt crossed his face, and Lena moved to pick up her shirt, taking the distraction as a moment to at least not be almost naked.

“I’m sorry I was running late, but I had important things to attend to, Kara.”

“There’s always important things,” she scoffed. “You come and go as you please. You chose your throne and your home over your family here. Over your daughter! And I got fine with that, but you can’t–”

“Okay, okay,” Lena hurried, adjusting her shirt and buttoning her pants before placing her and on Kara’s shoulder. “I think maybe we should regroup in the morning and discuss this with cooler heads.”

“I’m cool,” Kara shook her head, not looking at her girlfriend or the only voice of reason in the room. Things were just too charged with her ex. “There’s just no way I’m waking up Katie for this–this– this interloper.”

“That’s my daughter!” Mon-el raised his voice, standing taller and more firm that the relatively good-natured man who knocked on the door. Lena saw the regalness, the blood of a natural leader in the way his body moved and how his voice rose. He was strong and firm, an oak.

“Who you left!”

“Human in the middle,” Lena yelped before clearing her throat. “Human between two aliens with superpowers. Let’s all take a step back. Kara,” she gave her girlfriend a look and squeezed her arm.

As if finding herself again, Kara took a step back. Mon-el did the same, dragging his hand across his jaw.

“I think we can all appreciate the effort you’ve made to get here, Mon… Mon-el,” the peacemaker offered. “But Katie is asleep, and it is late. Why don’t you come back tomorrow? Pick her up and spend some time with her in the morning. You two can talk after. Because the important thing right now is Katie. Right?”

Despite how inflated he’d made himself, Lena watched Mon-el consider it before looking over at Kara and nodding slightly. Lena watched him adjust to the outcome, to her presence, to Kara’s coolness. He had Katie’s eyes, and the slope of her forehead. He was certainly her father, and that was terrifying.

“I’ll be back in the morning,” he nodded, giving his ex one final look.

Kara didn’t move, so Lena shut the door behind him. She tried to catch her breath and shook the thoughts away from her head. She leaned against the door and looked back at Kara who still refused to move and tried to figure out what came next, because surely she wasn’t prepared to deal with the girl she liked having a kid, and that was a work in progress, but she sure as hell wasn’t ready for an intergalactic babydaddy situation.

“So he seems nice,” Lena offered.

All she got back was a hard stare and Kara’s clenching jaw.

* * *

It took a lot of work, but Lena somehow got her girlfriend in bed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the good ‘in bed,’ that she’d been hoping for, but at that point in the night, with the uprising and arrival of an unwelcomed guest, any kind of in bed was the only real goal.

Much too late, and after much too much grumbling, Lena wrapped her arms around Kara and rubbed her back, and let her dig her nose in her neck, and kissed her forehead. She promised her lots of things, and she told her that everything was going to be okay. Somehow Lena became someone who did that. She wasn’t sure how. She just assumed that it was because it was Kara, and she could do those things for her.

It was easy with Kara. She was the foil to her heckles on the rise. She soothed away the anger in her shoulders and Lena allowed herself to be squeezed and used as a pillow. Clad in Kara’s old shirt and shorts that were too big for her, she took the need that Kara had for her gratefully. To be someone’s pillow was perhaps all that mattered in the world.

For a while, after Kara’s breathing evened out, Lena laid in bed and listened to the quiet of the night. She mulled over the angles of the situation like the businesswoman that she was, weighing the sides and what it could all mean.

She didn’t get much from Kara beside the blind anger she felt toward her ex, but she saw that it’d been a difficult break up. They had a child together, so there must have been some kind of affection. And Mon-el was the prince of some planet, Lena was assuming. It was hard to compare herself to that, but she tried. It was the thoughts of a handsome heir that shared genetics with a smart little girl that lulled Lena into an uneasy sleep.

At first, the sound of feet padding down the hall woke her slightly. And then everything else happened. The smell of breakfast warmed the air while the sun slid through the curtains and sliced across Lena’s face until she complained and dig her face into a pillow. She slid out her arms to squeeze her girlfriend, but came up empty.

After a few more minutes and a growl of complaint, the door to the bedroom flung open and an erratic Kara came through, hurriedly grabbing clothes.

“Everything is on his time! It’s maddening.”

“Mmm good morning to you too,” Lena yawned, sitting up and blinking.

She never slept as well at her own place. Something about Kara’s pillows and the smell and everything warm. Even with the entire situation happening, it was a better night sleep than she would have had in her own bed.

“He’s on his way over.”

“Did you tell Katie yet?”

“I’m not entirely convinced he can make it back here in a timely manner, and I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

Kara tugged the shirt over her head and threw it with force into a hamper. Standing in just her bra, hands on her hips, she stared out the window, and Lena just watched her feel very far away.

“Kara, it’s her father.”

“I know. I just don’t like it.”

“You must have loved him at some point.”

“I must have,” she nodded, pulling a shirt over her head. “I can’t remember why.”

Lena watched as Kara paced around, picking things up and checking herself in the mirror. Every second of it was absolutely exhausting. For some reason, Lena felt the urge to wrap her arms around herself, and so she did, tighter and tighter. Kara didn’t even notice.

Instead, the doorbell rang and Lena held her breath as her girlfriend made her way back to the living room in a hurry.

All the while there was a reunion of sorts, Lena slid out of bed and pulled on her clothes from the night before. She tied up her hair and made her way out to the hall.

“Daddy! I wished on my candles for you!” Katie screamed, running into her father’s arm at the sight of him.

“Kit Kat!” the crowned prince of Daxam cheered, scooping his daughter up easily and swinging her around while she choked him to death with adoration. “Oh, baby I missed you so much. I’m so sorry I was late for your birthday.”

“I wished for you and it worked!”

“You wasted a whole wish on me?”

“I always do!”

The excitement was almost catching. Hidden to the side, Lena watched the joy spread on the little girl’s face and remembered the same kind of feeling when her own father came home from work, when he was still doting and loving, when he would toss her in the air and laugh when she mispronounced too big of a word and smile when she beat him at chess.

It all came rushing back to her, combined with the feeling of almost jealousy, though perhaps it was better stated as envy. There was still this unshakeable feeling that kids didn’t like her, and more importantly, that Katie wouldn’t.

Lena looked over at Kara. She watched her refuse to melt, but she saw her shift and relax at the display. It was much too soon in their relationship to think about being jealous. But Lena didn’t know anything at all about any of it, and suddenly that terrified her. It was right there that she realized that she was in with Kara, and she was nearing the point of no return.

Slowly, unnoticed at all as they family unit shifted toward the kitchen where breakfast was a graveyard, Lena moved toward the door. She didn’t even catch Kara’s eye as she slipped outside and left the family there– complete and whole.

* * *

The day didn’t slip by so much as trudge through endlessly. Time was a heavy, wet outfit stuck to Lena’s skin, making it impossible to move at any regular pace. She tried to stop looking at the clock, but it was impossible. The sun didn’t seem to move in the sky and the menial tasks she assigned herself were too banal to even pretend to take up any extra seconds that somehow accumulated.

Any other time of her life, and time was a slippery slope, disappearing forever without allowing her to complete anything, and now, Lena found herself with too much and a brain that couldn’t focus.

At her office, her empty, quiet office, Lena paced around, afraid of the quiet that followed her around. She returned emails, she organized her desk, she read research studies and looked into some things of her own, and yet only a few hours passed after what felt like an eight hour day.

And Lena walked to her place. She stopped and got herself lunch. She dragged her feet. She gazed with new eyes at the world around her, and that still didn’t take up any time at all.

Often, she picked up her phone and wanted to call, to text, to somehow talk to Kara, but it didn’t seem like her place. Nothing felt quite right.

Lena flopped down on her couch with a larger than normal glass of wine and waited for something to happen, because she sure as hell didn’t know what to do next.

* * *

For some reason, it was near impossible to knock.

Not physically. Physically, all it took was a couple muscle groups to lift the arm and to tap against it, to create enough of a noise to rouse whoever as inside. But rather, Kara found herself standing in front of Lena’s front door with a distinct problem of not knowing what to say, but knowing full well that she was well-past the time to say it.

And so she stood there and listened to the noises inside, to the rattle of the quiet television, to the sound of a page turning.

The past twenty-four hours hadn’t gone especially to plan, and when Kara realized she’d forgotten Lena, or rather, when her world came back to its regular speed and she got a grip, she felt bad on many and every level. And then it all came screeching down upon her.

It took every ounce of hero left in her to knock on the door, but she did.

“Kara, hey,” Lena furrowed when she saw who was knocking before smiling.

“Hi.”

The first time she ever saw Lena Luthor it knocked her teeth in. That feeling never really went away. It certainly came through when she opened the door and pretty green eyes and a sleepy tint to them.

“I didn’t think I’d hear from you tonight.”

“I left Katie with Mon-el. She wanted Daddy time.”

“Makes sense.”

They stared at each other for a moment. Hovering and lingering and blushing and smiling, like it all hadn’t happened, like they were ducking small talk at a party. Kara held her breath until Lena hung slightly on the door and shifted, allowing her inside.

“I didn’t want to bother you. I figured you had a lot to talk about,” Lena tried.

“No, no, I didn’t handle it well,” Kara interrupted. “I was just so mad and so surprised. And you were so great.”

Nervously, Kara rubbed the back of her neck and watched Lena lean against the kitchen counter. Barefoot and in those tiny shorts, hair still slightly damp at the very ends from a bath, she was just too pretty. And those eyes, that were sad and waiting for bad news, bracing for it, trying to be above it all.

“Katie is the heir.”

“What?” Lena choked slightly on her wine.

“Is it wrong that I hope that he won’t come back?” Kara looked to Lena for some confirmation. “Each time, I know it’s just a battle in the making.”

“For Katie?”

With a sigh, Kara nodded.

“Mon-el and I, I thought we were similar, but we weren’t. He was close enough at the time,” she explained, her hands moving slightly as she spoke. “He was a fill-in for a connection to my home, and that was it. We thought his home was gone as well, but it turned out Daxam was spared. He chose to go back, to be a king instead of a family.”

“Why didn’t you go with him?”

“After Clark… I just couldn’t leave. This is my home. My family is here now.”

“Oh, Kara,” Lena softened.

Kara scooted closer, allowing Lena to reach up and slip her arms around her neck, up on her tiptoes to reach and hold and press herself against her.

“I’m sorry for how upset I got,” Kara whispered, gratefully wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. “I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you about all of it.”

“I get it. It’s complicated. I’m still okay with taking it slow.”

“This is kind of not slow.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m okay. I’m trying to do it right.”

All Kara could do was close her eyes and smile, lifting Lena up slightly and holding her even tighter. She couldn’t help it. She dug her nose into Lena’s neck and hid her smile there. Light as a feather, she somehow placed her girlfriend on the kitchen counter and remained firmly rooted between her legs, firmly anchored with her arms around her neck.

“Mon-el was important to me, but you’re important now. He will always be in my life, and I can’t change that. I just don’t want you to think that I’d–”

“No, no,” Lena shook her head. “I wasn’t jealous.”

It was a lie and she hid it as best she could. Well enough for the ever-loving Kara to see nothing but the good, to completely miss the little bit of fear that Lena squelched. So Lena just played with the buttons of Kara’s shirt and smiled despite it.

“He was my past.”

“I know.”

“You threw yourself between two grizzly bears. We should talk about how you shouldn’t do that.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Lena shrugged.

“Still. I don’t know why you would jump between us.”

“Because you were both about to say things you couldn’t take back and you have a kid together,” she explained. “I was someone who listened to their parents fight too much. It’s the worst.”

“You’re so good with Katie.”

The way she said it was almost reverential. But there was a little more to it. There was this thing about Lena that people didn’t really see. That she was the little girl who sat at the top step and listened to her parents fight, and that was a lot.

“I shouldn’t have let you leave this morning. I should have… I don’t know,” Kara shook her head and sighed. “I should have done something better.”

“You had a lot on your plate.”

“Still. I don’t know what to do.”

“Katie is a princess?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll have to let her make her decision. One day.”

“I suppose you were a princess and had to choose once,” Kara offered a smile.

“I turned out alright.”

“Better than alright.”

“I should tell you about everything that happened between us. I should tell you about it all, I guess.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Kara said, standing a bit straighter. “I really do.”

“Why don’t we,” Lena suggested, trailing her hands up and down Kara’s chest until the moved to her neck where they played. “Continue where we left off last night. And you can tell me everything in the morning?”

Kara smiled and warmed to the idea. It was impossible to tell Lena know, and it was even better to say yes to an offer like that. The only thing she thought about though, as she leaned down and kissed her girlfriend, was how their fates had already been intertwined for years, and how she’d have to explain it all soon enough.


End file.
